a millioniare and a billioiare preaching to the great unwashed about global warming..... yawn.

"Nuts"

So, this is a good thing for Bradbury? Seriously, I really don't have my finger on the pulse of the uber-progressive set or how they feel about Al Gore at the moment. The eco televangelist getting rich off his primarily human caused global warming pitch is still considered cool among the rank & file PDX'ers? Don't get me wrong, I gotta admire Al's business savvy and should be so wealthy. But he's still considered sincere and legit, yeah?

"his life since then has been marvelous."

Sure, when you can make a $100M fortune by playing scientist or should I say picture-book author.

I'd almost pay if he really was going to talk about facts and data (no - models are not real data.) He does need to pay that jet fuel bill.

Congratulations. Should be a good event and bring in some money.

I saw Al Gore in early 1992 on this book tour in Portland.

However, there are a group of folks out there who are looking for intelligent debate in the Gov. race. If this helps Bill talk more intelligently about Oregon issues, this will be a real help.

If he sounds like same old same old for people looking to be inspired by intelligent debate, no amount of money collected at a fundraiser will change that.

This story and the Mapes story about donors giving $10,000 to Kitzhaber are stories for reporters to write about because of the "money primary".

But until people start discussing the ideas they have heard from Gov. candidates, many people may just ignore Gov. candidates.

Carl Fisher, You write, "Bill Bradbury and Al Gore in the same room??? this is gonna be good."

 I've survived several Al Gore speeches in person. Here's how it goes: He says a few jokes about being so dull that his Secret Service code name is Al Gore, and that part is okay. That part is entertaining. 
 Then he shifts into his serious Mr. Ed voice and I swear to  God time stops. If you are standing, you begin to shift your weight from one leg to the other. Before long you are fighting to keep your brain from dropping into a protective coma.

 You might think I'm exaggerating here but this next story is the Gospel truth:
  Picture Bill, Hillary, Al, and Tipper on an all-day bus tour down through Washington to a small dinner of supporters with no press here in Portland. They were positively loopy from campaigning and it was fascinating checking out the vibes.
 Anyway, Hillary introduced Al with a strangely sexual story about their plans to dance together after the election, and he hopped up full of energy and did his jokes and things were going great.
   Then he went serious and these Secret Service agents standing right behind me couldn't take it anymore. I could see them shifting their weight back and forth fighting to remain awake. They had heard him talk all day and they were at that point we all get to where we start acting silly or we lose our minds. They began whispering little comments to each other, just kidding around. 
   We were around 15 yards behind the podium a little off to one side. Somebody got up in the first row of tables and the agent told the waiter next to me to run out and grab the guy. Tackle him. I'm not kidding. We both looked at each other for a second before realizing these agents were kidding - they had been driven to the brink of madness by one too many Al Gore stump speeches. Al is dull like a 7-hour flight delay. He is dull like waiting for the number 1 million to be called at the DMV.

   The weird thing is Al is great in conversation or kidding around on the radio but his idea of speaking formally means to switch to a stunning level of boring rarely seen in politics or any other field.

Hey jackass...I mean Steve Marx. Stochastic modeling is based on data.

I heard Vice President Gore speak at the Convention Center last year. He was hilarious, entertaining and inspiring. It was one of the more enjoyable political speeches I've heard. Oregon's gubernatorial race won't be decided by endorsements, but it doesn't hurt to have Al Gore stumping for you -- especially in the D primary.

I haven't heard him since he was running for office. I can imagine him being much better now. Bob Dole was another one who seemed so funny and loose talking to him in the hallway but when he hit the stage he turned into Mr. Grumpy Pants. I think it may have been one foot in another century with the speaking style for both of these guys. God knows they had been Senator-ized so long they barely knew who they were anymore. Television has made everything less formal so politicians are better off being funny and loose. Stodgy is over. Maybe in the 1800s it lent dignity to a situation, but it doesn't play when you have a remote control in your hand. So why pick on Al Gore now? Simple. If he had been just a little more "entertaining and inspiring" back then, we could have avoided 8 years of George W. There is no way Election 2000 should have been close enough to steal.

I've seen Gore speak several times since the 2000 race, and he really makes for an amazing and engaging live event.

Conservative drivel aside, this is another strong mark for Bradbury against the quickly dwindling "inevitability" of Kitzhaber.

With an ante like Al-freaking-Gore, it's tough to see how Kitzhaber expects to take the "environment" mantle away from Bradbury. Will Kitzhaber still pound away at enviro stuff and try in vain to take it back... or will he shift gears to health care?

If I were labor, I'd wait this out a little bit more. Retribution from the Kitzhaber-untenured OEA could throw the race toward Bradbury if there's no strong response from the Kitz camp.

I heard AL Gore at the convention center present An Inconveniant Truth, and, despite the somewhat slow drawl he was entertaining and often witty, in his dry way. He's no doubt a good fundraising draw.

It's not surprsing, as Bradbury was an active supporter of Gore's in 2000 while John Kitzhaber was the only governor to endorse Gore's opponent, Bill Bradley (my choice in 2000.)

Carla, As a progressive, I noticed that you wrote, "progressive and Democratic politics". If only that was redundant. Did you see Bill Maher's quote about it? "There is no progressive party. The Democrats have gone to the right, and the Republicans have gone to a mental hospital."

   I'm not saying this won't be a successful event. I just cracked up when someone wrote, "Bill Bradbury and Al Gore in the same room???" like that was show business magic. I've been in rooms with both of them, and I think that's a reach. 
  But I'll go along with the enthusiasm if you want - we need more of that these days.
  So I withdraw my earlier remarks and ask a new question about Bill Bradbury  and Al Gore:
 Is there a room in Portland big enough to contain this much excitement?

"This will be a solid to excellent fundraiser and a great night for Bradbury."

Sure, and he better enjoy it while he can.

I predict the AL Gore/Bradbury AGW elixer sales will be over by the time election day comes leaving Bradbury with the smallest base of fringe warmers and very few votes. With so many Democrats now recognizing the farce behind and throughout AGW, the movement is dying along with Gore's and Bradbury's credibility.

Go ahead and congrayulate yourselves while hailing as "progressive" someone who inherited wealth based on Grace chemical and Occidental Petroleum raping and pillaging. Not to be outdone, he continues exploiting the people with made up tales of doom.

"Hey jackass"

Stochastic modeling is a technique of presenting data or predicting outcomes that takes into account a certain degree of randomness, or unpredictability. - Wise Geek

Weather prediction, in case you haven't noticed, is somewhat random. My point being when you have a lawyer/politician pretending to be objective and able to predict the future, you are asking for trouble.

He ain't no progressive!

<h2>Some Southerners were agin' slavery and other were for it. Just because yer a blue blooded sonofabitch don't mean you can't decide that you've shat the nest enough!</h2>