Friday, June 8, 2007

Stop Being Humble, Al

Why hasn't Al Gore decided to run for president again? This question has puzzled political pundits, thousands of likely Democratic caucus and primary voters, and at least one DI columnist: Me.

I'm not trying to argue that Al Gore would win in the general election, but at least a few of you are thinking the same thing as me--the man did win the popular vote in 2000. It's not a far stretch to say he couldn't do it again. (And maybe, with any luck, he might take the Electoral College, too.)

Surely the former vice president has realized that he could accomplish more in one day as president than he ever will as the celebrity and political face of the environmental movement. There are few that question his intentions; since he repeatedly refuses to throw his hat into the race, it's difficult to say he's politicizing global warming in attempt to launch himself to the front of the Democratic field of presidential nominees. If he does choose to run, there may be some that will consider his Inconvenient Truth lecture series and movie a political stunt. If they're right, it'd be one successful stunt at that.

In a FOX News/Opinions Dynamics Poll released today, Gore is running in third place behind Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama among likely likely primary goers, ahead of John Edwards. Now you might consider the poll forgettable, as FOX News had a hand in it. But it's not all that discouraging. Numerous other polls have revealed the same thing.

People want Gore to run. And, if you consider the margin of error of the FOX News poll, Gore could conceivably land himself in second place, as he's within the M.O.E. of Obama.

Maybe Al Gore doesn't want to be president. Maybe he doesn't think he could win. But he wanted to be president eight years ago, and many argue he did win then. Why not give it a chance, Al? What do you have to lose? The presidency? That already happened once, and you seem to be doing just fine.

Rob Verhein
DI editorial writer

2 comments:

Jon Gold said...

Gore's protestations of disinterest don't mean squat with six months left to go.

Kathleen said...

I don't know what's holding Al Gore back, but it's my personal opinion that he would not win the nomination. Fred Thompson is polling incredibly well on the Republican side with a similar fervor to the support Al Gore has been getting. Personally, I don't think it amounts to much more than human nature. We want what we can't have. Once they're in and we consider them seriously, we're pretty much over them. If Al Gore wants to maintain his current momentum, he shouldn't run. Someone will get his endorsement and create a new cabinet position just for him. Whomever he endorses will be a formidable opponent.