This seems definitive:
Former US vice president Al Gore has ruled out a bid for the White House in the 2008 elections and will carry on his fight against global climate change.
“I have no intention to run for president,” Gore said in an interview conducted in Los Angeles and broadcast Thursday by the BBC.
“I can’t imagine in any circumstance to run for office again,” said the former Democratic vice president under then-president Bill Clinton.
So, who are you leaning toward?
VOTE EDWARDS
I am leaning towards Edwards.
Thanks for your comments the other day about Sam.
He developed a series of serious complications after the surgery, and it looked until today like we would lose him. Fortunately, he seems to have rounded a corner and we are guardedly optimistic for the first time all week. (Thus I have been scarce on-line all week.) Dr. Mrs. K.P. and the other vets she’s consulted with from across the county have done true yeo-person’s work (I can’t say “yeoman’s work,” as they’re all women, LOL) with him – treatments at 3 AM, etc. I am humbled to have so many good people pulling for him.
The Diva Dog and I are still sending Warm thoughts of Love and Healing!!!!!
and I hope he continues to improve, Knox.
At this point, with an open mind, I’m fantasizing an Edwards/Obama ticket. Other people to listen carefully to are Richardson and Kucinich. Their electability may be a factor in the end, but their contributions to the process are absolutely invaluable.
it’ll be a Edwards-Obama ticket.
My fav man has yet to announce.
At breakfast this morning I had a long discussion about Iowa dynamics. Edwards’ labor connections (really Bonior’s) will work well there. Obama’s charm and optimism will help too.
Hillary isn’t making much traction in New Hampshire, and Richardson will have a little edge in Nevada. So where does Hillary catch up? In this process, perception is everything.
So I bet it’s Edwards and Obama. Watch their rhetoric. They are respectful of one another.
Several weeks now I’ve been writing within this community…”Hillary’s campaign will collapse you read it here first and, if by a fluke she gets rammed down our throats, she’ll not win.” Her group is exhibiting arrogance and I can’t see the appeal of a dynasty. Bush Clinton Bush Clinton!
It’s the time of the long-shots, not the perceived front-runners. See also, front-runner McCain is slipping badly. In fact see how Rudy jumped to front page.
diplomacy!
Feh.
He hangs out with some poor company.
why he didn’t jump on the bandwagon for recounts in NM.
though I’m still in the “No Freakin’ Clue” camp.
I hope that Gore might at least consider a spot in a Democratic administration — possibly as head of EPA or an “environmental czar” post. Or maybe even as UN Ambassador…the opportunities abound.
If I can’t have Al I’ll hold my breath until I turn purple, and pout. …In the meantime, I’m undecided (but I’d be quite surprised if it was Hillary).
Wes Clark all the way:
http://www.politicalgifts.com/weclforpr20g.html
Wes Clark FTW
I agree. Wouldn’t he make a truly great president? First I’d like to see Pelosi in 2007 though.
He gave a definitive answer in 2002, this has plenty of wiggle room. He could do things to discourage the assorted draft movements, he has not.
Obama is not experienced enough, Hilliary, Edwards, et al, were wrong about Iraq, and the patriot act.
Gore has been right about almost everything that matters. He has the experience, he is a proven vote getter.
If we settle for anyone else we are cheating ourselves.
I lean towards Obama, I think that the country needs someone with that level of charisma and “start power” to lead us back from the brink. We also need a uniter more than ever, and Obama at least talks the talk along both racial and party lines.
Obama, then this will push you further into his corner. You won’t want to miss this: “Obama Confronts the Base”
Candid talk that’s not been heard from a politician in decades.
Those who point to his inexperience and the race thing that he won’t get the black vote do underestimate and are equating his run with Jackson or Sharpton. Times have changed and Obama is savy.
Also read link to Slate’s piece: “he’s drawing huge crowds in South Carolina.” Yes he can.
(H/T: Andrew Sullivan)
That’s enough to make Hillary look over her shoulder. Hillary has nothing locked up. Nothing.
I guess, like most new converts, I’m finding it very difficult to write off Gore, even now. If he really turns out to be unavailable, I’m looking more at the dark horses: Richardson, Dodd, Vilsack. I’d love to see Kucinich in the White House, but he’s been too mauled by the talking heads to recover.
Too bad, I was looking forward to Gore’s second term.
Gore, he’s my fav. But why should he run to clean up the mess made by the guy he defeated?
Do you know what a helluva mess is awaiting the next prez?
Off the top of my head…
1.end the wars
2.take hold of the Goldilocks economy- At the mo, it’s making sham and happy times..only on Wall Street
3.restore the constitution
4.muck out the neo-Con mess throughout the various departments of government: DoD DoJ DHS DoS?
5.fumigate the Oval office and OVP
did I forget anything?
The mess Georgie’s gonna leave will make cleaning the Aegean Stables look like a little light dusting.
I’m not giving up on Gore, though. There’s a lot of time for circumstances to change his mind.
I still think Gore may come into the race later.
In any case, I don’t really care what any of the candidates have to say yet. None have inspired me, I’m suspiciuos of all of them in different ways, and I’m waiting for the debates to see who holds up under that kind of pressure. That’s when I wrote Edwards off the last time – he was really poor in the debates. We’ll see.
and I’ll predict now – Obama, Edwards, and Clinton will not accept the vice presidency. They are all ‘too big’ for that role (or so they consider themselves.”
This is Hillary’s only shot, and she won’t do it as 2nd choice. It’s Prez or nothing for her.
It’s Obama’s first, so he can afford to wait for something better.
Edwards – been there done that, lost the t-shirt.
Gore is my first choice by an order of magnitude. I can’t imagine any circumstance in which I would choose another candidate over Gore until I go into a voting booth in the Oklahoma primary in 2008. If Gore’s name is not on my ballot when that time comes, I will move to my second choice.
Today my second choice would be Edwards. If I knew beyond doubt that Gore will not run, cannot be persuaded to run, Edwards would be my first choice today. He hits all the right notes. His populist message is almost enough by itself. His proposal on universal health care is not exactly what I would like, but it’s a starting place, and better than most. He’s out front on education. His unambiguous mea culpa on his war vote is a good deal better than anything else I’ve heard from anyone who actually cast a vote in favor of that resolution.
We’re a long way from the Oklahoma primary. Lots of things could change between now and then. If Gore is on my ballot when that time rolls around, I will vote for Gore. Period. If Gore isn’t and Edwards is, I will very likely vote for Edwards. If neither of them is on my ballot, or if something happens to change my mind about Edwards, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. Right now, Clark and Richardson are probably tied for third and I don’t have any strong feelings after that.
How many times does Gore have to say he is not running for people to believe him? This only makes about the 15th time he has made this same announcement.
and why would the guy that picked Lieberman to be his running mate be so popular? I don’t get it. I never have.
Lieberman did not fulfill any promise of being a star candidate. What was Gore thinking? If Lieberman was only chosen to give him distance from Clinton, boy howdee, it worked. But sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for……
Gore was doing what all politicians do – trying to cover the base. Lieberman is pretty opposite Gore except for the environmental issue, which Lieberman shares with Gore. He’s been decent on that front.
I don’t buy that argument, BooMan. That’s like saying no one should have voted for JFK, one of our best presidents ever, because he shared the ticket with LBJ.
Don’t judge a man by his vice president. That’s just silly.
I disagree. McGovern, Poppy Bush, and Gore all failed spectacularly in picking their VP’s, and they all deserve criticism for it.
BooMan, everybody wants a do-over on 2000. Everybody. Hell, I wasn’t even paying attention in 2000. I thought that election was a no-brainer. I didn’t know anything about Lieberman, and didn’t care. I didn’t give any thought to him or Cheney. I knew all I needed to know about Bush. And to be honest, I wasn’t all that enthusiastic about Gore at the time, but choosing between him and Bush took all of two brain cells all of two microseconds to decide. Their respective running mates simply didn’t enter the equation at the time. Well, you know what they say about hindsight.
Until the Democratic convention is behind us. That’s the only point at which I’ll believe it.
Whenever these straw polls come up, pretty often someone denounces them as too early. It’s too early to be deciding these things, they say. Polls don’t mean anything this far out, they say. Well, if it’s too early to be voting in straw polls, it’s probably too early to be declaring a candidacy too. We’re a year away from the very first vote that actually counts. Every one who has announced has just made themselves a target.
And after what the corporate media has done to Gore, I can’t say I blame him for being reluctant to subject himself to their tender mercies again. Certainly not before he absolutely has to. He has been very careful not to give them any target to shoot at. At the same time, he has been very careful, very careful, not to make any Shermanesque statement that absolutely closes the door.
In the meantime, he is garnering as much attention as any of the announced candidates, if not more. He has learned how to talk over the heads of the corporate media, directly to the people in America and around the world. For someone who is not running, he certainly gets mentioned a lot. In every straw poll I’ve seen that includes Gore, he polls head and shoulders above everyone else, typically drawing as many votes as the next two combined. If he did decide to run all he would have to do is say, at any major appearance, I’m in and he would instantly be the de facto front runner. The nomination, and quite possibly the general, would be his to lose and I don’t think he would lose.
Yes, it’s maddening. I held my breath until I turned purple and that didn’t help. Maybe he really, really, will not run. Maybe he can’t be persuaded, can’t be drafted. Well, if he’s not on my ballot when the Oklahoma primary rolls around, I’ll decide then from among the choices that are left on my ballot.
Obama
8
leaning toward anyone.
Leaning away from quite a few…
I was pretty much inclined towards Edwards until I heard about his televised palaver towards the neocons and their Israeli counterparts a couple of months back.
So now I’m off Edwards, until he shows a length of spine and independence from those nitwits.
In fact, I’m off everyone until I see something substantial.
His abnegation of the presidency makes me glad he never won since obviously he doesn’t want the job and isn’t the right man for it.
We got the worst case alternative but I wonder what would have happened if Al had ever really wanted to be president? Maybe he would have REALLY won.
So much horror would have been avoided. So many lives saved.
Too bad, Al.
Thanks, anyway!
I guess being president would be meaningless in the quest to stop corporate induced climate change.
So don’t bother.
Really, Don’t bother. I would have loved you anyway.
Thank you. I have been saying the same thing for months.
Hard to figure out what’s really going on here refinish. I know it’s silly but watching reconstruction of George Washington at three moments of his life and looking into that face, I’m not a jingoist, but there was something in that character against all odds and not worrying about his image as a “two time loser” that I would like to transmit to Al Gore’s consciousness when we need him to stake his ego on the future of the human race, for better or worse.
interview, it seems as though Gore is deflecting the question because he doesn’t want to take the focus off his upcoming climate change concert.
The statement is not as clear cut as it seems in print.
Btw – this comment is recycled in current news, but was made last June. This is NOT a “new” statement from Gore, for the record.
In addition, I saw him after this comment was made, at a book signing in Beverly Hills. The person ahead of me said she wished Gore was President. He said, “I wish I was too.”
He’s still got the hunger. But I’m sure he doesn’t want to be a spoiler, and would only enter if the party is imploding and he felt he could step in and win, which I see as an extremely distinct possibility.
I don’t want anyone running who will only step in if they think they can win. What an insult to the people who supported him or have been trying to draft him for over a year.
is anyone running who doesn’t think he can win? I don’t think that’s a fair comment.
Edwards or Clark would be my favorites. Hillary would be my least favorite. Obama I am concerned about – he gave a speech related to energy that was just pushing ethanol, which to me is pandering to ADM and farmers in Iowa and not a viable solution for much of anything.
The others I don’t know as much about..
Perhaps another question we can ask is who has actually given money to candidates at this early date?
Remember, Obama is from Illinois.
I went to a serious lecture about alternative energy from a Nobel Prize winner this weekend. It was pretty significant. Today’s ethanol is only a few percentage points more efficient than gasoline. But there are enzymes, new grass species, and technologies just around the corner that can make ethanol many times as efficient. (The transportation problem is still not solved, so we need the effort here, near point of use.) I haven’t compared the candidates for awareness of the newest technologies, but I haven’t seen any of them that reflect what I heard.
Here is his plan. However, I am not sure I really trust the guy to be the kind of democrat I want, and I am not sure he has the experience to do the job. Still, I would vote for him as of today with General Clark a close second.
At the moment, Gore is the only choice that interests me. If he’s not in come the Wisconsin primary I’ll vote for someone else, but I don’t currently see anyone in the field that I’d do more than vote for somewhat reluctantly.
I’m still hoping for Gore. WISHING for Gore. If Gore isn’t on the primary ballot when the time comes….
Well, I’ve got plenty of time to decide between Clark, Obama and Edwards, all of whom have good points. Or someone else could surprise me. Hillary isn’t on my short list. I like her as a Senator from NY. But I don’t want “centrist” when the center has been dragged so far right; she’s in too deep with the corporate establishment now.
Rudy is a dead man walking, a figment of the imagination of the big money people. No matter what a person prefers, it’s important to think about the system. Iowa is heavily dependent on grass roots organization (Edwards worked on it for a year now, Rudy thinks he can buy it). Then New Hampshire. Rudy might have a shot there. But South Carolina? Not remotely.
This isn’t a game of who you’d like in a perfect world, but who can survive the gauntlet. And that is not all bad. Surviving without pulling a “Biden” is a trait that should probably be part of the prerequisites for election.
What remains to be seen is the influence of netroots. That’s an unknown, and one that should be flexed. In Iowa, turn-out is vital. Netroots can do that, we know. In both Iowa and NH the voters are net-savvy.
With the net working against her and no jeans, Hillary is in deep trouble.
As much as I like Kucinich I’ve emailed Conyers to encourage a run (with Webb as vice). In the interest of conumer protection, Nader has removed the possibility of Hillary Clinton as the DLC choice.
1.) Edwards (weak now because of his statements on Iran, buddying up with AIPAC in Israel, and his tepid support of his bloggers)
2.) Obama
3.) Richardson
4.) Vilsack
I’m leaning Obama, and have a new website to prove it (seattleforbarackobama). I don’t think Al is going to run but I must point out he has not made the definitive “I will not run if drafted” statement.
I can’t say I’m impressed with Obama. This early in the game we should be pushing for the best we can get — soon enough we’ll have to settle for less . . .
got any names for the “best we can get” list?
I think any of our announced candidates can beat the Republicans with the exception of Kucinich and probably Gravel. I think Hillary would thump McCain or Guiliani. I think Obama would win although his campaign wouldn’t be as fierce and could get cut to pieces. I think if any of the others won the nomination somehow that current perceptions of them would be meaningless. If Dodd, Biden, or Vilsack came from nowhere then we would have to reevaluate their skills and prospects in the general.
And Edwards would look quite different after slaying the Obama/Hillary media monster.
I say, pick who you like, not who you think is electable.
I like Edwards (now that Al Gore has definitely stepped aside). I saw the college tour interview that he and Elizabeth did with Tweety; Edwards has learned a lot from the last campaign, he has solid policy proposals (universal health care single payer, yay!), he wants to address big inequality issues.
I’m from IL and would support Obama, but he’s not my first choice. It’s the mushy faith-based stuff that sets my teeth on edge. I think we need a candidate who will work well with H. Dean and who shares the vision of the 50 state strategy–rebuild the infrastructure of the party. Liberal is good! Party-building is good! Creepy candidate-centered horse racy politics game…BAD.
Speaking of Dean, my “problem” with Edwards stems from some of his tactics in Iowa in 04, but I am willing to let it go if he can earn the nomination.