Recent Reading

Here are a few articles that prove that people (and not just fanatical bloggers like yours truly) are still hoping for a Gore ticket for the Dems:

• The Case for Gore Obama
  
• Gore Fest
  
• Al Gore for President? Party Like It's 1924!

The chatter continues...

Great Draft Al Gore video -- this one posted on CurrentTV

Maybe he'll get the point...?

Talk to us, Al!

Al Gore clearly understands the Web 2.0 phenomenon. He did, after all, help create CurrentTV.

So why doesn't he engage in the conversation with us, the Draft Gore movement? His silence is not only infuriating to people who have decided the ballot filing deadline of Nov. 2 (that'd be today) would be the end of their hope that Gore will run. The author of that blog post is, by the way, one of the leaders of the movement.

There are some diehards like me who won't lose hope until the Dems nominate another candidate in Denver. I'm not a political animal that will jump to hit the streets of another candidate. I like Edwards, but I probably wouldn't actively campaign for him.

The only person who has ever gotten me interested in politics, in getting the word out, in going to meetings, in actively campaigning for him/her has been Al Gore.

I think it's nearing time for him to engage in the conversation with his loyal followers. He had such a strong backing and such a load of followers who could have turned into staffers and campaigners a few weeks ago.

Is this part of his plan? To weed out the people who aren't diehards? A great many people think he's waiting for Hillary to falter. Personally, I think the polls don't really reflect accurately the popularity of Hillary, but maybe he's waiting for the polls to reflect a downward trend.

I just wish he'd start talking to us about this. If he really believes in the new communication methods, why would he want us to talk to him if he doesn't talk back? He has not said yet that he's definitely not running and thanks for the support, but time to give up, as he apparently did to the Draft Gore movement in 2003.

Talk to us, Al. You're begging us to talk to you. Don't be too good to take your own advice. Please. We need you to step up.

Michigan's a no-go for the ballot

Sometimes even a grassroots organization can't do the work of a dedicated team of political pros.

The general feeling in the Draft Gore movement right now, BTW, is that we wish he'd give us the nod that he's in or else definitively tell us to abandon ship. This stock "I have no plans to run for president" comment he gives isn't good enough. Because it doesn't mean he's not running.

Timing, as they say, is everything. And I still have confidence that Al and his team know what they're doing. I just wish they wouldn't stall too much longer, as the people he's going to need the most -- the people on the ground who have believed in him for more than 8 years -- are going to start abandoning ship.

I posted to the group the other day an article (Al Gore's supporters move on) that said that some Hollywood folks are going to start endorsing other candidates and what they thought of that and did they have a cutoff date and when that would be. Most said they'd stick with him for a while yet. Some people are giving him until the ballot deadlines in their state (Nov. 2 for New Hampshire). I got 40 responses, which I thought was telling. Morale seems to be waning, though, because I think a group so devoted to a man and his cause can only spin their wheels for so long before it seems like maybe we're not getting anywhere. Or that in order to get somewhere we need a nod from the Big Guy Al (;-}) himself.

I think it's getting to be time for him to make a definitive statement. And how I hope it's that he's heard all of his thousands of supporters and acknowledges that he can make the most difference in the world by being our next president.

As for me, I'm in this unless he says, as he did in 2003, something like "thanks but no thanks. I'm not running, please give up your efforts."

Gore in Chicago last night

So the Draft Gore movement had some people in the 2,000-person crowd in Chicago last night. ReEnergizer blogged about it in a very nicely detailed post. Thanks, ReEnergizer!

As with almost every pro-Gore post on DailyKOS, the comments are also worth reading. And I mean every letter of them.

The hype is almost a frenzy

People are talking about Gore in the White House. Especially now that's he's got the Nobel Peace Prize under his belt. Here are today's picks:

• Gene McIntyre's Statesman Journal blog entry
  

  There will be a lot of talk in the next several months as to whether a "fire-in-the-belly" exists in him sufficient to prompt entry into the race for president. It's suggested that Al Gore need worry less about checking his gut; rather, he should be focusing on the resume he's spent a lifetime building. It is now more impressive than ever. He is, after all, not only the "man of the hour," but arguably the most outstandingly prepared person to lead this American nation out of the morass at home and overseas in which we are now deeply bogged down.

  
  
• Other countries believe in him, too. This one's from Ireland: Could Al Gore clinch the US Presidency?
  

  Gore has said himself that he would have most influence as President," Ronhovde said. "Al Gore has been campaigning on global warming for years. Now it's time for a solution. That solution can only come from the White House."

  
  
• Award heats up Gore-for-president buzz -- All in all, this article comes to the conclusion Al probably won't enter the race unless something catastrophic happens with Hillary. But this is a good quote:
  

  "I don't think there's any doubt that Al Gore would be the best qualified person to be president of the United States," [Jimmy Carter] told MSNBC Friday.

  
  
• Check out this Gallup Poll video, posted yesterday. Of course, these polls don't mean a WHOLE lot at this point.
  
  
• It seems that each article that says "Al Gore probably won't run for president in 2008" end with something like the following disclaimer (from a CBS News opinion piece):
  

  The odds are that Gore’s Nobel Prize bump will go the way of the earlier rises in positive feelings. Still, with increased attention being given to climate change, and with Democratic voters now possibly taking a second look, who knows?

GoreGal, you've done it again

Great video. Very professional. Way to go (and keep them coming!).

Great Draft Al Gore video

One of my like-minded Gore supporters put together this video. It's really wonderful and I applaud the effort. My favorite part: "We know you hate politics. So do we. That's why you are so perfect."

I'll take that as a challenge

Barrie Dunsmore thinks the grassroots movement to draft Gore won't happen, although he thinks it's just what the country needs. To quote:

My guess is that if the leading Democratic candidates all fell by the wayside for some reason or if there were some major national crisis and either of these things inspired a huge, grassroots "draft Gore" campaign, he could be persuaded to give it another try.

Frankly, he doesn't seem to think that is going to happen. And neither do I – even though he may well be exactly the kind of philosopher-king/president this country will sorely need to face the almost impossible task of being the next president of the United States.