# Gore: Green Party Candidate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 29, 2007, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-green-party-candidate/397988 "2007-03-29T15:54:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-green-party-candidate/397988/21 "2007-03-29T19:09:31Z")
To me it has the whiff of left-wing talk-radio pornography. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-green-party-candidate/397988/22 "2007-03-29T19:25:31Z")
The reason I say Republican porn is that it presents a scenario whereby the left is split and the Republicans win. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-green-party-candidate/397988/23 "2007-03-29T20:22:37Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] The reason I say Republican porn is that it presents a scenario whereby the left is split and the Republicans win. [/QUOTE] Whereas for Green Party members, it presents a scenario where Al Gore, the most famous American environmentalist, essentially publicly recants for having been a Democrat for twenty years because the Green Party platform is too important to ignore. It’s not merely a famous, influential politician essential endorsing the party; it’s also a recognition from Gore that he was on the wrong side of the issues in 2000 by not running left enough. If that isn’t emotional self-gratification for leftists, I don’t know what is. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-green-party-candidate/397988/24 "2007-03-29T20:32:32Z")
To clarify - it’s certainly Republican porn, too, for the reasons **spoke-** mentioned. But it’s not like the Republicans are the only ones who want the Democrats to fail in future elections, and it’s not like everything anti-Democrats comes from the right-wing. Hell, it’s not like everything anti-Democrats comes from non-Democrats. All Will Rogers said: “I’m not a member of an organized party. I’m a Democrat.” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-green-party-candidate/397988/25 "2007-03-29T21:10:20Z")
[QUOTE=John Corrado] Whereas for Green Party members, it presents a scenario where Al Gore, the most famous American environmentalist, essentially publicly recants for having been a Democrat for twenty years because the Green Party platform is too important to ignore. It’s not merely a famous, influential politician essential endorsing the party; it’s also a recognition from Gore that he was on the wrong side of the issues in 2000 by not running left enough. If that isn’t emotional self-gratification for leftists, I don’t know what is. [/QUOTE] The problem is the ill-defined nature of the term ‘leftists.’ I wouldn’t hesitate to describe myself that way, but I’m quite happy to work through the Democratic Party, even given its manifold imperfections, and I’m still sorely pissed at Nader for his running in 2000, thereby siphoning enough votes away from Gore to throw the EC to Bush. How I would find the Gore-goes-Green scenario gratifying, I certainly don’t know. And I doubt that more than a small fraction of self-described American leftists would. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-green-party-candidate/397988/26 "2007-03-29T21:20:58Z")
[QUOTE=John Corrado] it’s not like everything anti-Democrats comes from the right-wing. [/quote] True, but there’s really not very much out there to the left of the Democratic Party anymore. The disaster of the past six years has been extremely instructive to the American left. > [@](#): > > Hell, it’s not like everything anti-Democrats comes from non-Democrats. True, but fortunately Lieberman’s stopped calling himself a Democrat, which takes care of a good piece of the problem right there. And while there are still some DLC Dems working against the party, their influence is pretty small, beyond their natural constituency of David Broder. > [@](#): > > All Will Rogers said: “I’m not a member of an organized party. I’m a Democrat.” Ssssh! Don’t tell anyone, but the Dems are starting to almost look like…an organized political party! From the way they held together on Social Security, to the way they squeaked the Iraq funding bill through both houses of Congress, the Dems have increasingly been working together, from the Progressive Caucus to the Blue Dogs. Big props to Reid, Pelosi, and Hoyer. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-green-party-candidate/397988/27 "2007-03-29T21:34:32Z")
[Does “Insight” have any credibility?](http://www.insightmag.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=5D3B38F8A2584DB5A77BA05660C6045C&nm=Free+Access&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=AF78CF08A2B54E6FBD091E5251011D58) > [@](#): > > Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton faces a possible new threat to her presidential ambitions. > > Former Vice President Al Gore has again been entertaining offers to run for president. Gore has been discussing a run for a third party nomination with family and close aides. > > “Al Gore has been energized by the attention he’s been receiving as America’s leading environmentalist,” a political source close to Gore said. “He believes this might present an opportunity to become president or at least try again.” > > Sources close to Gore said Ralph Nader has sought to recruit the former vice president to run as the candidate for the Green Party. They said Gore has not rejected the offer and was consulting with family and friends to determine the feasibility of such a candidacy. Lots of unidentified sources in this piece. Is Ralph Nader “recruiting” for the Greens? Would Al Gore listen politely to any request by Ralphie? [Looks like a Right-Wing wet dream to me.](http://www.insightmag.com/ME2/dirsect.asp?sid=38594B6394DE4F19898978BA7D9517E6&nm=About+Us) > [@](#): > > Insight is Washington’s premier political intelligence report and was recognized as America’s No. 1 conservative news site by Rolling Stone Magazine’s 2006 “Hot List”. Insight’s articles have been cited by FOX News, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Associated Press, Michael Savage, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, and Laura Ingraham – among many others. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-green-party-candidate/397988/28 "2007-03-29T21:59:28Z")
[QUOTE=Bridget Burke] [Does “Insight” have any credibility?](http://www.insightmag.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=5D3B38F8A2584DB5A77BA05660C6045C&nm=Free+Access&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=AF78CF08A2B54E6FBD091E5251011D58) Lots of unidentified sources in this piece. Is Ralph Nader “recruiting” for the Greens? Would Al Gore listen politely to any request by Ralphie? [Looks like a Right-Wing wet dream to me.](http://www.insightmag.com/ME2/dirsect.asp?sid=38594B6394DE4F19898978BA7D9517E6&nm=About+Us) [/QUOTE] Insight is a Moonie mag, the magazine analogue to the Washington Times. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-green-party-candidate/397988/29 "2007-03-29T22:03:18Z")
I can certainly see the Greens supporting Gore\* if he’s the Democratic candidate as well\*, just like the Populists sometimes supported Dem nominees a century ago. Gore’s as green a prominent pol as there is, of course. But I’m sure they learned their lesson from supporting Nader’s ego trip. Well, I hope so, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-green-party-candidate/397988/30 "2007-03-29T22:05:34Z")
[QUOTE=Bridget Burke] [Looks like a Right-Wing wet dream to me.](http://www.insightmag.com/ME2/dirsect.asp?sid=38594B6394DE4F19898978BA7D9517E6&nm=About+Us) [/QUOTE] Yes, a fantasy about the whole ‘Global warming issue’ **backfiring** on the Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-green-party-candidate/397988/31 "2007-03-29T22:08:06Z")
Here’s a possible scenario: Gore runs as a Green until October 2008, then drops out and endorses the Dem nominee and puts his entire campaign organization at his/her disposal. Clinton or Obama wins the election with Green support, and appoints Gore Secretary of the Interior or whatever job he wants. Win-win! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-green-party-candidate/397988/32 "2007-03-29T22:36:52Z")
[QUOTE=RTFirefly] True, but fortunately Lieberman’s stopped calling himself a Democrat [/quote] I tuned in Hannity on the way home today, just to find out what today’s talking points about Gonzogate are before the Usuals here tell us, and Lieberman was the guest. He said \*nothing \* when Hannity called him the D-word and referred to “your party”, quite a few times, but in fairness, no, I don’t recall Fightin’ Joe using the name himself. Instead, it was all about decrying the lack of absolute fealty in this country to The Decider and his vision. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-green-party-candidate/397988/33 "2007-03-29T22:49:04Z")
But BrainGlutton, why would Gore do that? Look, I know several people here would like it if the Green party got a shot in the arm, but we have no reason to suspect Gore agrees. He’s a Democrat. If he wants to help the Democratic candidate, why would he run as a Green? He can endorse and organize and fundraise and campaign for the Democratic candidate as a Democrat, and if he wants a cabinet position he can let the President-elect know. Except we also have no reason to suspect Gore would want a cabinet position. If he wants to influence public opinion he can do more as a spokesman than as an appointed bureaucrat. If he wants to advance a green agenda he can do far more convincing the Democrats to adopt a green agenda than he can promoting a third party that is more likely to make Democrats less green than more green, and elect Republicans over Democrats. Gore is a Democrat. To the extent he gets involved in electoral politics in the future it will be as a card-carrying member of the Democratic party. Anything else is simply fantasy, whether right-wing or left-wing. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-green-party-candidate/397988/34 "2007-03-29T23:00:51Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] But BrainGlutton, why would Gore do that? [/QUOTE] If he wanted to be Secretary of the Interior, I doubt he would have to do anything more than ask! ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-green-party-candidate/397988/35 "2007-03-29T23:17:26Z")
Exactly. If Gore wants to hold office, even an appointed office like a Cabinet position, he’s 100 times more likely to achieve that goal as a card-carrying Democrat than as a traitorous rat-bastard bridge-burning Green. He cannot run against the Democratic party, even as a stunt, even if he pulls out at the last minute, without spitting in the faces of his pals in the Democratic party. And Al Gore isn’t exactly a left-winger, despite his environmentalist streak. He’s a founding member of the DLC. He picked JOE LIEBERMAN as his running mate, you guys remember that? Joe Lieberman wasn’t forced on him at gunpoint, he honestly thought Joe Lieberman was the best person to run for Vice President on the Democratic ticket in 2000. This was not the choice of a man who could decide to abandon the Democratic party because they’re not left-wing enough. Al Gore is a maaaaaaaainstream Democrat. He only seems like a hard-core environmentalist in comparison to Bush, he only seems anti-corporate compared to Bush, he only seems anti-war compared to Bush. But Bush isn’t running in 2008. Compared to the rest of the Democratic pack, and even the Republican pack, he’s not so far out of step. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-green-party-candidate/397988/36 "2007-03-30T02:05:21Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > He picked JOE LIEBERMAN as his running mate, you guys remember that? Joe Lieberman wasn’t forced on him at gunpoint, he honestly thought Joe Lieberman was the best person to run for Vice President on the Democratic ticket in 2000. Lieberman. Was. Not. Insane. In. 2000. (Or at least not viewed that way). Joe Lieberman was a moderate/conservative Democrat, as a balance for Gore being somewhat liberal. This was not a bad choice; it’s only in the last year (or, really, since he lost the CT primary) that Lieberman became a DINO asshole hawk. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-green-party-candidate/397988/37 "2007-03-30T02:37:10Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Carrot] Lieberman. Was. Not. Insane. In. 2000. [/QUOTE] But as you say, he was still a moderate to conservative Democrat. Not exactly someone the Green Party crowd would have rallied behind. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gore-green-party-candidate/397988.md?page=1)