he doesn’t realize it. He is so thick and out of touch with himself and with the electorate that he will never get off the ground again. He is one of the greatest phoneis around, and contributed only a few hundred dollars to charity a few years ago. What a hypocrite!
I have never met anybody, even liberals, who ever had one positive thing to say about Al Gore. What a jerk.
I thought you were going to finish with "even though he won the last election
d&r’s
I have something positive to say about Al Gore. Gore is smart, and more than being smart, he’s a hard worker. Back when he was in the Senate, he would make sure to find out the technical aspects of the bills that were coming to the floor. If a bill had to do with foreign trade, for example, he’d spend his free time learning everything he could about foreign trade. Gore had a reputation, especially back in the senate, of being honest, hard working, and willing to do the shit jobs for the Democratic caucus. I think there’s something admirable in that.
Funny, I thought he didn’t have a reputation as a Senate brainiac. This from people I know who worked there.
His book was full of howling mistakes and pseudoscientific conjecture. It would not have survived peer review, especially since Gore believes, apparantly, that he is without peer.
Nobody could be as smart as he thinks he is, and he seems to believe it himself. I don’t think he lies about his record so much as convince himself that he really did these wonderful things.
I think he’s through, and I’m pretty happy about it. We almost elected someone at least mildly delusional.
I don’t like the man, and I like his old boss even less, but the only reason I think he’s washed up is because he acts like it. His best attention-getting technique has been criticism of the Bush Administration - and not even a lot of it. Demo Congressmen have done much more. If he doesn’t start trying to make himself look like a “comeback kid” he’ll find its become impossible to do so.
M aybe he is brainy, but his emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills are below average. He seems to have little idea of the impression he is making on others. Remember him “stalkin” Bush during a debate. He is not now and never was ready for prime time.
M aybe he is brainy, but his emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills are below average. He seems to have little idea of the impression he is making on others. Remember him “stalkin” Bush during a debate. He is not now and never was ready for prime time.
Well, right, his interpersonal skills aren’t very good. I don’t know anybody who would disagree with you there. There is a difference, though, between, “Doesn’t interact well with people.”, and “Has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.”
In his defense, how many people have been elected President while not in another office? Restricting it to the last century, we have just Nixon and Reagan. Two out of thirteen ain’t good odds. Anyone who’s out of office suffers from the inability to make news: When the Vice President says something, it’s news. When the former Vice President says something, it’s olds.
Hm… intelligent sitting vice-president, loses to charismatic challenger with a bad-boy past, due at least partially to his poor-appearing performance in the debates and bad interpersonal skills… Al needs to get his ass kicked in the Tennesee gubernatorial election this year, and then it’s GORE IN 2008 – TANNED, RESTED AND READY!
stankow, you missed a key element - he must annouce to the press that they won’t have Al Gore to kick around anymore.
Sua
Did you learn counting from the Florida GOP? Of the last 13, Hoover, FDR, Eisenhower, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush 1, and Clinton were all out of office when they were elected. Coolidge, Truman, and Ford succeeded to the office. Only Hoover (Sec. of Commerce), and Bush 2 (Gov. of Texas) DID hold office when they were elected.
And before you get on my case re Bush 1, the vice-presidency isn’t a real office.
Carter was Governor of Georgia through 1975, at which point he began campaigning. I’ll give you a point on that one.
Was Hoover in office or not?
Eisenhower was Supreme Commander of NATO forces until six weeks before he was nominated. Was he in office? Could go either way, but he enjoyed a position of prestige and the ability to affect policy and – here’s the important part – get his message to the public. Al Gore’s only position or office is that of former VP/unsuccessful candidate.
Bush was Vice President of the United States. You may have heard about it – it was in all the papers. And it does count. Sorry to rain on your parade.
Roosevelt was Governor of New York, and Clinton was Governor of Arkansas. They may not have been in office when they were inaugurated, but they were when they were elected.
For a Clintonista not to remember that Bill Clinton was still the Governor of Arkansas for the entire 1992 campaign and election is so delicious I can barely stand it.
FDR was elected to his second term as NY governor in 1930, so his term would have been from Jan. 1, 1931 to Dec. 31, 1932. I’m pretty sure there was a Presidential election that he won in that period. November 1932, maybe?
Hoover may not have been in an elected office, but he sure as hell held an important Federal office–he was the Secretary of Commerce when he ran for and won the Presidency.
If Veep isn’t a real office, can we pretend Gore never held it? If not, then Bush sure was in office.
So, that’s four out of eight. Not a bad batting average, but in school, it’s an F.
Gee, noone can count in this thread. There have been 18 presidents in the last century. 5 succeded presidents who died or resigned (of these, 4 were reelected next time around).
All but 4 (Eisenhower, Nixon, Carter, Reagan) held a political office when they began their run for president. Of these 4, only Carter and Reagan defeated a sitting president, and only Reagan defeated a sitting, elected president.
If you only look at the last 30 years, half of the presidents elected did not hold office while running for president.
Note: Eisenhower had a military post in 1952, the year of his election. Carter announced for president in Dec. 1974, with one month remaining in his single term as Gov. GA (only one term was allowed by GA constitution).
T. Roosevelt- 1901-9- VP (succeeded McKinley in 1901, reelected for 1905-9 term)
Taft- 1909-13- Sec. War
Wilson- 1913-1921- Gov. NJ
Harding- 1921-1923- US Sen.
Coolidge- 1923-9- VP (succeeded Harding in 1923, reelected for 1925-9 term)
Hoover- 1929-33- Sec. Commerce
F. Roosevelt- 1933-45- Gov. NY
Truman- 1945-53- VP (succeeded Roosevelt in 1945, reelected for 1949-53 term)
Eisenhower- 1953-61- Supreme Commander NATO 'til 1952
Kennedy- 1961-3- US Sen.
L. Johnson- 1963-9- VP (succeeded Kennedy in 1963, reelected for 1965-9 term)
Nixon- 1969-74- none
Ford- 1974-77- VP (succeded Nixon in 1974, not reelected)
Carter- 1977-81- none
Reagan- 1981-89- none
G.H.W. Bush- 1989-93- VP
Clinton- 1993-2001- Gov. AR
G.W. Bush- 2001-present- Gov. TX
Read my post again, folks. I clearly asked:
how many people have beenelected President while not in another office?
This takes off Teddy Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson and Gerald Ford. We’re back to 13, exactly three of whom were ELECTED while not in office. Still shitty odds for Gore.
(Incidentally, Eisenhower was still a General upon his election, merely an inactive one.)
Getting back to the OP:
First, Gore is genuinely undecided about running in 2004, though an unpopular Bush would make him lean toward running. However, it’s interesting to look at his base. I’ll tell you right now the moderates want nothing to do with him. They know he ran a crappy campaign and believed he abandoned their wing of the party. Though their votes aren’t that important in a primary, they provide most of the money. Look for them to defect to Lieberman if he runs, and if he doesn’t they’ll flock to Edwards or Roy Barnes of Georgia. Labor is firmly in Dick Gephardt’s camp, and he’s been running for president since December 14, 2000. Liberal activists would probably go to John Kerry or gulp Al Sharpton. Gore’s base would consist of the adamant “we wuz robbed” camp, which is still large but greatly diminished, and African-Americans. I think we don’t give them enough credit when we say they’ll vote for Sharpton–I think most are able to see through his facade. Plus, I don’t think he’ll make it through Iowa and New Hampshire, but South Carolina might present him a chance. African-Americans supported Gore in higher percentages than anyone since Lyndon Johnson, who was running as the “I signed the Civil Rights Bill” candidate. However, I think Gore’s numbers in prospective matchups are so high because of his name recognition, and making it through the primary will be tough. I won’t venture as guess toward what he’ll do in 2004 till I see the 2002 elections, and Bush’s popularity rating around then.
OK, to be a smartass:
T. Roosevelt, Coolidge, Truman, and L. Johnson were all elected president while not holding ANOTHER office (the first time they were elected to the presidency, they were already President).
You forgot about Wilson, F. Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan and Clinton, then. I didn’t say “first elected,” either.
If Vice-President isn’t a real office, what is it?