The Case for Al Gore in 2016

[DonViejo]

Last edited Mon Mar 16, 2015, 03:49 PM - Edit history (1)

Ezra Klein: “To many Democrats, the fight the party needs is clear: Hillary Clinton vs. Elizabeth Warren. But the differences between Warren and Clinton are less profound than they appear. Warren goes a bit further than Clinton does, both in rhetoric and policy, but her agenda is smaller and more traditional than she makes it sound: tightening financial regulation, redistributing a little more, tying up some loose ends in the social safety net. Given the near-certainty of a Republican House, there is little reason to believe there would be much difference between a Warren presidency and a Clinton one.”

“The most ambitious vision for the Democratic Party right now rests with a politician most have forgotten, and who no one is mentioning for 2016: Al Gore. Gore offers a genuinely different view of what the Democratic Party — and, by extension, American politics — should be about.”

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You might also be interested in this article:

The case against Al Gore in 2016

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251399353

[brooklynite]

1. Bad candidate...irrelevant issue to most voters.

Set aside Florida and the Supreme Court. Gore lost his home state and 10 states won by Clinton. If he'd won any additional state FL would have been irrelevant.

[morningfog]

12. How any supposed Democrat can say 'set aside FLorida and the Supreme Court" is beyond me.

Gore won the popular vote and the electoral vote. It was stolen.

[brooklynite]

16. You can be a bad candidate and still win an election.

But I'd prefer to try with a good one...

And I repeat my comment that the average voter has very little focus on the environment as a driving issue.

[morningfog]

20. A candidate who wins is by definition a better candidate than the loser.

And by enough to win.

As for your last point, I think you are patently out of touch.

[brooklynite]

23. Show me evidence that ordinary voters are concerned about environmental positions of candidates

Not activists; not political bloggers.

[morningfog]

25. They are when a candidate explains to them the severity of the issue.

Shitty candidates ignore it at our collective peril. It's the same as framing economic issues.

And remember, Gore won. Bush stole it.

[brooklynite]

26. Gore didn't campaign on the environment...

...for that matter, Gore didn't campaign on much of any message.

[morningfog]

27. I didn't say he did. I am still addressing you first out-of-touch defense of Bush

by suggesting Bush's stolen election can be blamed on the winning candidate, Gore.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

52. He campaigned on being Clinton's third term.

And now we're looking at another candidate who intends to be a third Clinton term, literally.

[ND-Dem]

73. and few want clinton's third term, either way. cause his 2nd term set up bush's first.

[elleng]

77. He did NOT do that;

if he had, he likely would have won resoundingly. BAD strategy on his part.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

87. Pft. From where I was watching it, that's exactly what it looked like.

I was literally talking to the TV, begging him to lose his Clintonian handlers and simply come out and be a human being during his run. But no, he thought he was 'playing it safe' by simply trying to glom on to the 'Clinton charisma'.

[elleng]

88. I wish he at least had tried to glom onto that,

but I didn't see it. For some reason I attributed it to Donna Brazille. Sorry if I'm wrong about that.

[Jamastiene]

45. Exactly! n/t

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

53. Could not have said it better myself.

And it was stolen of course, and we as Americans have still done nothing about it

[Warren DeMontague]

35. losing by a squeaker didn't disqualify Nixon from trying again, did it?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

39. He didn't wait sixteen years for a do-over.

Gore's best shot for redemption/revenge was 2004...

[Warren DeMontague]

46. Maybe.

Except.... our ostensible Front Runner is having a "do over", isn't she?

How come Hillary hasn't exceeded her shelf life, if Gore has?

Anyway if he were to run, I'd give him serious consideration. Same with Howard Dean. Unfortunately I don't think either are interested.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

57. Hillary is seeking a do-over eight years later.

Certainly a man as erudite and fair as yourself can see the difference between a eight year and sixteen year layoff... Also, if you read the history of Richard Nixon he remained active in Republican politics after his 1960 squeaker loss picking up chits by campaigning for fellow Republicans and clearing the field for 1968. He also ran unsuccessfully for the governor of CA in 1962. You can say he never stopped running.

As I said Gore's moment was 2004 to avenge the purloined election from the man who purloined it.

[Warren DeMontague]

60. Again, maybe.

Never say never in Politics. I'm sure the people who thought HRC was going to be inevitable in '08 would have been surprised to hear she lost the nomination to a one term AA Senator whose last name rhymes with "Osama".

The conventional wisdom people said he never had a chance, and were certain he would be demolished decisively if he made it to the general.

The main obstacle I see to Gore running is, for whatever reason he doesn't seem terribly interested. If he were to show even the slightest amount of interest I believe he would be a formidable contender.

[One of the 99]

62. Bad candidate???

He started down 20 points against Bush. Had the media against him to the point they lied about him. And was outspent by Bush 2 to 1 in some states. Not to mention Nader draining voters away from him (and Nader lied about Gore too & did so with GOP money). Yet he came back and won the popular vote and would have won Florida had the SC not stolen it for Bush.

[brooklynite]

80. He had no message, he lost him home state and 10 other that Clinton had won.

[One of the 99]

83. A home state that had gotten increasingly conservative

and where Bush outspent him by 3 to 1.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

84. I love Al Gore... I met him in Orlando about a week before the 00 election

My mom and I also met Tipper at a party banquet...

But the race was closer than your portrayed with lots of lead changes.

[One of the 99]

86. In January 2000

most polls has Gore down by 20 points to Bush. As the campaign progressed thoughout that year Gore closed in and there were many lead changes toward the end.

[brooklynite]

78. Gallup Poll: What do you think is the most important problem facing America today?

http://www.gallup.com/poll/1675/most-important-problem.aspx

Environment/Pollution: 1%

[ChisolmTrailDem]

2. "...and who no one is mentioning for 2016." nt

[Octafish]

3. Gore has the wisdom Washington needs.

He'd get my vote.

[Blue_Tires]

7. +1

If Gore was interested, I'd back him with everything I got...

I at least owe him that much after my youthful indiscretion with Nader the last time

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

55. Pft.

Even if you were in Florida, you didn't cost him the election. Far more Dem voters voted for Bush in Florida than ever voted for Nader.

[Blue_Tires]

58. I know...

In 2000 I actually was living in Kansas, which Bush won by 30 points...

I guess it's more of a karmic debt I have to repay, especially when I see how far off the deep end Nader has gotten these days...

[DrDan]

15. I question the wisdom of any candidate who would choose Joe Lieberman as #2

thought it was a terrible choice back then

[DemocratSinceBirth]

31. Given the razor thin margin in FL would it be unfair to say if he took Bob Graham

Given the razor thin margin in FL would it be unfair to say if he took Bob Graham he carries the state and wins the election?

[DrDan]

32. not unfair at all - Joe L was a TERRIBLE choice

[DemocratSinceBirth]

36. Bob Graham wanted the job and he wouldn't have kissed Cheney's ass in the debate.

I am a big tent Democrat but Lieberman tilted so far right on foreign policy and even some domestic ones i have a hard time calling him a Democrat if he even calls himself one anymore.

[Octafish]

41. Terrible choice now. At the time, the Party said, 'Great. It distances Gore from Clinton.'

Which I thought was a bad strategy, but, hey! I want to win elections, not go through the motions.

[Jamastiene]

49. It was a strategy that failed miserably.

He had a great record to run on, but instead tried to distance himself and appear more conservative than he really was....much like what is still happening today with the party. Every time leadership in the party pulls that bullshit, we end up with a Republican winning, or in Al Gore's case, stealing the election. It doesn't work. It's a crappy strategy that even a 5 year old would have learned doesn't work by now. Hell, even the most hyperactive puppy learns after a few times when something doesn't work and tries something else. It is a shit strategy that keeps Republicans in power, time and again.

If you always do what you have always done, don't expect different results. It is just not going to happen.

[DrDan]

69. absolutely horrible strategy - I never could figure out why he would not

ride big-dog's coattails into the WH. NEVER made sense to me. WJC loves to campaign. Loves the fight. And Gore did everything possible to not be seen with him.

What a different world we would have now . . .

[Warren DeMontague]

47. It was a crappy choice. Unfortunately- and I think Gore would acknowledge this- he listened to a lot

of party conventional wisdom poobah types.

These people were telling him that he had to choose someone with "moral authority" to negate the Clenistic Blowjob Effect. More all powerful values voters shit.

I have little doubt these are the same folks who told Debbie Wasserman-Schultz to run on a platform of throwing cancer grannies in prison for smoking pot, in Florida.

I expect them to play VERY heavily in Hillary's campaign (witness "My most inspirational Bible verse is....&quot but I hope I am mistaken.

[ND-Dem]

74. +100

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

56. Mine too but I see little difference between him and Hillary

[Octafish]

70. You may be right, but I don't see Gore's name working at UBS.

Since the repeal of Glass-Steagal, they've specialized in all kinds of Wealth Management:

http://financialservicesinc.ubs.com/revitalizingamerica/SenatorPhilGramm.html

Not that there's anything really wrong with parking loot offshore, apart from the law.

[ND-Dem]

75. +100

[Politicalboi]

4. Excelsior!

Man Bear Pig. I'm Super CeriaL I would have to see Gore speak and to hear his ideas. Maybe Warren as VP.



<a href="http://imgur.com/Eh1e8la"><img src="" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>

[Warren DeMontague]

48. Parker and Stone should stick to dick jokes.

I think science is over their heads.

[hifiguy]

5. I would very carefully consider Al Gore.

I have a lot of respect for the man. He and Warren would make a great team.

[Blue_Adept]

6. I would love to see a laid back Gore just saunter into the 2016 stage

And just smile and steal the attention and make some big strides.

I'd certainly like that vote I cast back in 2000 count for something too.

[Jamastiene]

50. I feel the same way.

When he is relaxed and just being himself, like he has done since 2000, he has the charisma to win people's minds and votes. I would love to see him come on stage, beard and all, and just take it.

[cali]

8. He neglects to say what that vision is.

[BeyondGeography]

9. Ezra's right that the party needs a fight

And it needs to be a fair fight. Anything resembling a coronation will hurt us. Gore would fit the bill nicely.

[jwirr]

19. And like Bernie and Elizabeth we need his voice. We have such good people on so many of the

really big issues and we need them to stay at the forefront to keep us informed.

[sketchy]

10. He might and I think he should

He is such a gentleman that I can't seen him wounding other Democrats in the running in the process, and it would be an even bigger megaphone for his climate message.

I'd love to see it!

[Jackpine Radical]

29. He wasn't all that damn gentlemanly and delicate

in his campaign against Bill Bradley in 2000.

[sketchy]

40. I was thinking of his likely treatment of Hillary Clinton when I wrote that

I realize he also has/had a reputation of being a dogged fighter.
I also think he's changed, and learned a lot since the year 2000.
He used to give George W. the benefit of the doubt until it became clear what kind of monster he truly was. So he's been burned by being too nice, and is wiser, in my opinion.

[Jackpine Radical]

42. iirc, there's a long-standing animosity betw Al & Hill.

I don't remember the details, but think it goes back to the (Bill) Clinton years.

[sketchy]

43. I don't know if there's anything to that, but it would certainly be a problem

I guess there really isn't any pain-free way to be in a primary.
Well, I trust him to know whether he should run or not. It would be very surprising if he did, though, because he has called himself a "recovering politician."

[malaise]

11. Al Gore - the Assault on Reason he was right - if I had a vote, he'd get it

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10440121
<snip>

His new book, called The Assault on Reason, reads much like a legal brief — an indictment, really — on current policymaking.

Gore takes a harsh look at the media's fascination with flash over substance and a lack of courage among politicians of both parties.

Most of all, The Assault on Reason is an assault on President Bush's use of power and his handling of the war. The White House has taken strong issue with Gore's book, both its substance and analysis.

Below, a transcript of Michele Norris' interview with Gore:

AL GORE: The point of this book is that our nation is so shockingly vulnerable to such crass manipulation. And it's happening over and over again – the censorship of scientific warnings about the climate crisis; the warrantless mass eavesdropping on American citizens; the overturning of a prohibition against torture that was laid down by General George Washington; and the fact that there is so little protest or outcry points to the much deeper problem not of just the culpability of those in the White House at the present moment, but at the fact that we are so vulnerable to these mistakes and that we allow them to occur with hardly any impressive outcry of resistance or protest.

You use the phrase crass manipulation. In the book, you actually use much stronger language to describe the Bush presidency and the Iraq war. You say the administration can't manage its own way out of a horse show. You say President Bush is, quote, "out of touch with reality," that his march to war characterized an abuse of the truth, that his view of Iraq was tragically at odds with reality. In essence, you're calling the sitting president a liar.

Well, that's your wording not mine; the ones you quoted are mine. But I have not used the harsher word. I think that ...

[hifiguy]

13. That book is essential, and rather scary, reading.

[rhett o rick]

18. My copy was published in 2007. I need to re-read it. Before I supported Gore I

would want to make sure he didn't support the DLC / Third Way. Oh yeah! I am pissed he sold his network.

[FSogol]

21. Are you kidding? Al Gore (the Prince of Tennessee) was a founding member of the DLC.

Which shows how ridiculous the DLC / Third Way boogie man stuff really can be. Almost every elected Democrat was in those days following Reagan's shellacking of Carter in the GE. The DLC formed to try and find a pragmatic way forward in those days when the country was taking a hard turn right.

Gore would have (and still could be) a great President.

[TheKentuckian]

54. What is ridiculous about it? The really inconvenient truth is he still is a corporate conservative

Being able to read and accept scientific consensus doesn't mean he is some champion for economic justice.

Does it look like we took "a pragmatic way forward"? No, we are in a train wreck rolling down hill and trying to sell the dying passengers on how much slower the crash is than if the other conductor was driving.

[FSogol]

64. Actually, they did take the pragmatic way forward for that moment in time.

Clinton served two terms despite being embroiled in a scandal. That did not seem possible when everyone was writing epitaphs for our party following the Reagan victory. In hindsight, they shouldn't have continued down that path so far, but at that moment it seemed correct.

[ND-Dem]

76. +100

[malaise]

66. Mine was published in 2007 as well

That's am old link - it's a great book - I read sections over and over

[YvonneCa]

63. Just about my favorite book...

...😃 Assault on Reason should be required reading for everyone.

[malaise]

68. It's a great book

Should be required reading for all Civics classes

[YvonneCa]

71. I agree. Gore is a very...

...smart, thoughtful man.

[progressoid]

14. Nope.

Like Gore, but, no.

[cali]

17. OK, just read the full article over at Vox

and this should give anyone pause:

The problem with a Gore candidacy, to be blunt, is Gore. He can be a wooden candidate. His relationship with the press is challenging, to say the least. He is an aging politician in a country that loves new faces. His finances are complicated, and he made an insane sum of money by selling his cable network to Al Jazeera. His divorce from Tipper Gore means his personal life isn't the storybook it once was. He is loathed by conservatives, who find his environmentalism to be rank hypocrisy from a jet-setting, Davos-attending mansion dweller — as politically polarized as concern over climate change already is, Gore could polarize it yet further.

I have a real problem with any politician who uses his career in politics to become fabulously wealthy- to say his finances are complicated is an understatement.

[HereSince1628]

22. AL Gore, advocate of DLC assault on party effectiveness? I'd rather let him work climate change

Thanks but I don't really think the party needs to return to its past.

[BlueJazz]

24. Well, he did win the White House once. Could probably do it again with the correct backing.

[Agnosticsherbet]

28. Al Gore has expressed zero interest in running for President.

There is little chance that Democrats take the House, though they have a good shot at taking the Senate. There is little chance that a Democratic President could have much of a legislative agenda.

I suspect 2016-2020 will look a lot like 2010-2016.

And, again, like Warner, Gore is not interested in the job.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

30. Politicians have a moment and his moment was 00 and 04./NT

[rock]

33. Al Gore did not run in 2000 for himself

He ran for you and me. When the rubber hit the road, we did not back him. Not us, not our congressmen, not our senators. I believe he has had enough and don't see why he would want to run for president again (for us). He doesn't strike me as the sort who would want to president for ego reasons. I have no objection if he wants to run and in fact would enjoy his debate with Hillary (presumably) and be glad for the great selection.

[Warren DeMontague]

34. I wish.

Sadly I don't think he's interested.

[CentralMass]

37. I think the massage incident would be a boat anchor for him

[DemocratSinceBirth]

38. That was an embarrassing situation but he was exonerated./NT

[bigwillq]

44. No to Gore.

Again, not a fan of recycled candidates.

[spanone]

51. i doubt very much mr. gore wants to go swimming in that cesspool again.

[peace13]

59. Gore has already won a presidential election that he failed to claim.

I doubt the court will pass it to him on yet a second vote. But.... feel free to invest in him if you think he is the best that we can do. I beg to differ that a Warren term is equally failed to a Clinton term by virtue of the Rethuglican majority. Clinton has a mountain of baggage just begging for inspection. Warren, not so much. I feel that Ezra is saying that one woman would be as bad as the next. Not a pretty assumption. What makes him think that a Dem MAN can stand up to the majority. I really think this line of thinking is sad....and sick!

[Warren DeMontague]

61. I'd love to see either Warren OR Gore get in the race.

Unfortunately I don't think either is going to.

[peace13]

72. It is pretty frustrating , for sure!

and then, if we do get a good person in, the fight will continue! Must...remember...to breathe! : )

[Starry Messenger]

65. No thanks.

[B Calm]

67. Who would he pick as his running mate?

[Blue_Adept]

79. Lieberman's not doing much these days...

[B Calm]

82. LOL, scares me!

[LWolf]

81. I'd give Gore a good look should he choose to run. nt

[Generic Other]

85. I would consider Gore a better choice than Hillary

Mostly because I hate hate hate the distractions she brings -- the Benghazigate emailgate godknowswhatgate crap they will beat us down with if she's our candidate. Also tired of Bush's adopted son Bill's machinations on behalf of his wife.

My one fear with Gore is that he is not a fighter. He lost a loty of respect from me when he gaveled down the Black Congr. Caucus when they contested the election. Won't forget that easily.