Just in case he didn't hear us

Take a look at the full-page call to action DraftGore.com ran in the New York Times.

Beware of smart people with a cause... they usually get things done.

Moving Beyond Kyoto

Al Gore wrote a piece for the New York Times that was published in yesterday's paper. Take a read.

Most interesting pullquote:

Therefore, just as President Reagan renamed and modified the SALT agreement (calling it Start), after belatedly recognizing the need for it, our next president must immediately focus on quickly concluding a new and even tougher climate change pact. We should aim to complete this global treaty by the end of 2009 — and not wait until 2012 as currently planned.

The next president, wink, wink, nudge, nudge? I'm reading into this, I know. But I really see this as Gore's first "what I'll do as president" piece. He's not going to enter the race until he's pulled in by his ears. He's not going to enter while there's still a chance he could lose the nom to another Dem. He's 3rd in most polls. Maybe he'd jump to 1st if he declared, maybe the list is still too long. There's no reason for him to chuck his hat in now. He just needs to stay in the public discourse and he's doing a GREAT job of that.

Another interesting line from his OpEd piece: "Are we so scared of this challenge that we cannot lead?" Touche, Al. I have a feeling you're not so scared that you can't lead your country, as well.

His last graph bodes well for his future presidential speeches:

But there’s something even more precious to be gained if we do the right thing. The climate crisis offers us the chance to experience what few generations in history have had the privilege of experiencing: a generational mission; a compelling moral purpose; a shared cause; and the thrill of being forced by circumstances to put aside the pettiness and conflict of politics and to embrace a genuine moral and spiritual challenge.

This guy doesn't even NEED a speech-writing team. He will when he's president, but he clearly has the inspirational grasp of our language (how many best-sellers has he written over the years? 3?).

New York Times review of Assault on Reason

"Al Gore has decided to lay it all on the line with a blistering assessment of the Bush administration." Read the review.