I think it’s very, very unlikely. The party delegate-selection rules are structured against it, and the Hillary, Obama, Edwards etc. partisans will all be grasping for the prize of the nomination. Just every “dream candidate” of the past two decades either hasn’t stepped forward (Mario Cuomo, anyone?) or has fizzled when he takes the plunge (Wesley Clarke, Ross Perot). Al had his best shot in 2000, and fell short, alas.
Al Gore definitely won’t be drafted in the sense of being selected at the convention due to a deadlock. That kind of thing is more or less from a forgotten era.
As a Republican I think Gore would be a very strong candidate, and could see myself voting for him. I had a very hard time deciding between Gore and Bush in 2000.
Which is a shame - he looks much better with those extra pounds on him. He’s like Alec Baldwin that way. The fat gives him character.
IMO, Gore would be crazy to run. He is currently at rockstar status and has the power to make a difference for good in the world (no checks and balances). He can play the “you shoulda voted for me” card for the rest of his life. His recent political clout comes from being free of the shackles of public office.
I did not vote for Al in 2000, but I think he is a decent person and gets better with each day he is away from the Clintons.
What about if he wears earth tones?
Ooh, alpha male!
But Gore would gain nothing and lose much from declaring at this point. Better sit back and let Hilary cut down Obama. If and when they drag each other down to the point of un-viability, then he can step in and be the savior of the party. Plus, as mentioned, the minute he starts actually running is the minute he actually has to answer questions other than “Are you running?”
I think he is in wait-and-see mode. If the front-runners begin to implode to the point that Obama will accept the VP spot for someone other than HRC (Hilary will never accept this) then maybe Mr. “No Controlling Legal Authority” can jump in. Right now he can look Presidential and above the fray and all such.
He’s at a big fund-raising disadvantage, but those already running will have to spend some of that against each other. Hilary has Bill as one of her major fund-raising advantages; Gore wouldn’t have that. He would have to go to the limousine liberals in Hollywood, but they have deep pockets, and panic at the thought of losing the White House (again) might loosen the purse strings, if HRC and Obama begin heading south.
We’ll see. I put the possibility of a Gore campaign at 7-5, pick 'em.
But think of the comic possibilities -
“Gore in 2008 - Try to Get the Right Hole This Time”
Regards,
Shodan
OK, that isn’t quite the party elders, but it isn’t exactly the primary voters, either.
Yes. But one would hope and pray that they would do so within the limits of the set of candidates who were able to win a nontrivial number of primary votes. There’s a difference between what they should have the right to do, and what would or wouldn’t reflect good judgment.
We did this (choosing a nominee at the convention who hadn’t competed in the primaries) once before in my lifetime, forty years ago. It didn’t work out so well.
Given how strongly people are responding to his newfound “damn the torpedoes, speak your frakking mind” attitude, he might be realizing that his best chance to win, paradoxically, is if he doesn’t actually try to win. In other words, last time around, he did the classic all-things-to-all-people thing, and couldn’t sell it, coming off as a mealy-mouth weaselly politico. These days, he’s obviously his own man, and people love him for it. Given that, one wonders if saying “here’s what I’m about, vote for me or don’t, like I give a shit” is actually a winner, at least compared to obvious begging for votes.
It’s unknown whether his new style (not in the context of a campaign, remember) would translate to an actual run, of course, but hell, he could hardly do worse.
But looking at today’s field, I would join BobLibDem in the joyful polling-place moonwalk.
I think I should have explained myself more thoroughly on this point. While the delegates aren’t party elders, the fact remains that nobody really votes for the delegates per se; if I vote for John Edwards in my state’s primary next year, I doubt I’ll even notice the names of delegates that make up his slate, assuming they’re on the primary ballot to begin with. I’ll be voting for Edwards, and any decision that they make on a hypothetical second ballot to cast their votes for someone else is a decision that’s being exercised by persons who are largely strangers to the primary electorate.
If, for instance, Hillary and Obama capture 45% each of the delegates, and Edwards gets the remaining 10%, I would hope that the strangers on the Edwards slate would take their cues from Edwards, the guy I was voting for to begin with. But however they reached their decision on who to vote for, I’d be most comfortable with an outcome where the nominee was one of the leading primary vote-getters, less comfortable with one where the nominee was an also-ran, and completely uncomfortable if the convention foisted on us a nominee who hadn’t run at all.
I voted for Ralph Nader on the Green Party Ticket in 2000. I would not vote for Bush, but at the time, there was so much I did not like about Gore and especially Tipper, that I voted for the Green Party. If Gore ran now, I would put him ahead of all the current Dems and he would be running a close second to Rudy, who eventually has to clearly proclaim where he stands on many issues. If Rudy sells out to the right too much, he can loose my vote.
I Rudy lost the Nomination, which still seems likely, I can vote for Obama and even HRC, but never Edwards. I would at this point happily vote for Gore.
I did not vote for Gore in 2000, because I thought he was hopelessly stiff, fake and Ken Dollish. I still harbored a strong dislike of Tipper from her Censorship days.
Jim
I think you’ve just about nailed everything perfectly. Two more cents worth:
I think a lot of people are enamored with him right now because he’s not running. He appears about it all, committed to his causes and his passions, and a campaign would dilute this impression (as well as remind all the fence-sitters about his other positions that they might not like).
I think he’s enjoying the attention that comes from being coy and not saying one way or the other. I don’t think he’s going to run, but as long as there’s that outside “possibility” (creating hope or fear based on his unwillingness to say so 100%), he continues to get good press and the other Dems keep one watchful eye over their shoulder.
If Gore was up against 3 candidates as middling and compromised as the top 3 GOP prospects, it might be different. But no matter how you feel about them, HC, BO, & JE aren’t going anywhere and are going to get stronger and more confident (barring something cataclysmic), so people aren’t going to abandon them willy-nilly.
At some point, if he’s not careful, Gore will stop looking like a Hope Beyond Reach and begin looking like a big Chain-Yanker, and then any candidacy will be doomed. Calibrating such a moment is probably more trouble than its worth, and I think he knows he’ll enjoy being a Senior Dem Statesman (unofficial title) in a new Dem administration than being the one to actually officially inherit the mess that Bush & co. is leaving in their wake.
Maybe that’s his objective: to keep the actual candidates honest. By sitting prominently on the sidelines, topped with a glowing halo, he’s telling them not to get too crazy or there’s an 800-pound gorilla waiting to steal their thunder. As you say, he just has to make sure he isn’t too coy about the “is he or isn’t he?” thing, lest people start making the :dubious: face at him.
Given Johnson’s popularity, would any candidate have had a chance at winning against the rebuilt Nixon?
Whichever Democrat wins, I hope there’s a place for Gore in the Cabinet–Interior, maybe?
What are the laws concerning Al Gore serving as VP again? Is he allowed to? I believe he could.
Yup, no limit on VP terms. Nobody ever spent more than two terms as Vice President, though, because after the two-term President left office, naturally his VP wanted the job.
I’ve on occasion been none too thrilled with things you’ve posted, but this made me laugh out loud. 
And, actually, I liked the rest of your post too, and think you’re probably right.
I particularly liked Cervaise’s comments as well.
Why has it been so hard for the Dems post-Clinton to figure this out? Actually, I think it’s a reason why Hillary Clinton’s chances are much lower than people suppose. If Obama can figure it out, his rock-star appeal will carry him over the top. I think Hillary is far too much in the camp of trying to please too many people, and will end up pleasing very few.
Such speculation. If Gore ran, I for one would be very happy about it. Losing in 2000 has given him the courage to be forthright in what he believes in a way that we sadly did not see in his campaign. What did so many Democrats say about McCain? Stuff along the lines of “I don’t agree with him, but I respect the man for the integrity of his convictions.”
That sort of meme could work very well for Gore.
When’s the last time ANYBODY was drafted?
It doesn’t happen. It just doesn’t happen. And it won’t start now. THe way primaries are set up now, it’s virtually impossible for SOMEBODY not to win a majority by convention time.
If Gore wants to be President, he’ll have to announce his candidacy and run. If he doesn’t, Obama, Hillary or Edwards will sew up the nomination before the convention starts. There’s zero chance of a draft, of Gore or anyone else.
Yeah, the only limit on VP terms is that once someone has been president, s/he is subject to the two term/ten year limit because a vice president must be eligible to be president. If two years and one day into some future president’s term a new vice president was required, Bill Clinton and George W Bush would each be eligible to accept the vice presidency à la Gerry Ford. (Either Jimmy Carter or George H W Bush could be vice president in 2008, as they each have a full “unused” term available to them for the presidency and they could be repeatedly elected as VP as long as they did not again serve as president.