# Will Al Gore run for president? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 11, 2007, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765 "2007-02-11T21:58:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765/21 "2007-02-13T15:56:57Z")
[QUOTE=newcrasher] Would Gore be seen as the USA asking for a big “do over”? [/QUOTE] Nah. If he ran in 2004, maybe, but this would be closer to telling American “I told you so”. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765/22 "2007-02-13T17:45:42Z")
[QUOTE=Anise] You should hear A. J. Hall talk about Al in Carthage, TN (their mutual home town, A.J. being the head of the Wilson County Republican Party.) [/QUOTE] Well, that’s probably personal (and would be predictable, on political grounds, even if it weren’t). See [this post.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=8230441&postcount=47) ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765/23 "2007-02-13T17:53:08Z")
[QUOTE=newcrasher] If Gore runs it will be the death nell( knell?) for Hillary’s presidential aspirations. 8 years of Gore followed by 8 years of Obama makes Hillary an old broad with 16 more years of baggage to defend. [/QUOTE] I’m unsure there will still be a country about after 16 years of dominance by the Democrat’s. 😛 FWIW and as a brief nod to the OP, I don’t think that Gore will run. If he does, I expect he won’t get the nomination in any event…and if he does, I don’t expect him to win in a general election…unless whoever the Republican’s run is a complete loser. YMMV. -XT ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765/24 "2007-02-26T19:01:10Z")
Update: [_An Inconvenient Truth_ won the Oscar for Best Documentary.](http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=2904707) Gore still hasn’t announced for 2008, though. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765/25 "2007-02-26T19:17:32Z")
What a cocktease this guy is. I’m guessing that he will not run- but that he will trade on the speculation to generate more publicity for the movie, cause, and lecture tour. I would probably vote for him. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765/26 "2007-02-26T19:29:07Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Gore still hasn’t announced for 2008, though. [/QUOTE] In fact, they made a joke about it where he pretended to announce, and was cut off by the orchestra. I don’t like to psychoanalyze people based on the jokes they make, but I think that probably means he won’t run. ---
**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:** [February 26, 2007, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765/27 "2007-02-26T19:30:40Z")
If he runs, and especially if he wins, the Nixon parallels will be way too spooky. I mean, come on - Vice President of a popular (if somewhat muddled and scandal-ridden as a leader) President just _barely_ gets defeated in the national election, goes into semi-hiatus, and re-appeared to run again eight years later when the opposition party is being ruined by a hugely unpopular and divisive war. Said candidate jumps to the forefront after appearing as laid-back and humorous on an entertainment program (for Gore, the Oscars; for Nixon, Laugh-In). Might as well start referring to Gore as tanned, rested, and ready. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765/28 "2007-02-26T19:42:34Z")
I hope he does but I don’t think he will. Maybe if Hillary and Obama get caught stealing candy from babies he might seize the opening. But running takes tremendous will and desire and I’m not sure he can summon it again. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765/29 "2007-02-26T19:50:42Z")
Watch his waistline. If he drops a significant number of lbs, that’ll be a good leading indicator. Maybe he lets Hillary and Obama bloody each other, then he comes in later this year as the grown-up to break up the squabble. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765/30 "2007-02-26T19:51:43Z")
They used to say watch Teddy’s waistline too. I think all of us including Teddy have stopped watching it. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765/31 "2007-02-26T20:00:04Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] In fact, they made a joke about it where he pretended to announce, and was cut off by the orchestra. I don’t like to psychoanalyze people based on the jokes they make, but I think that probably means he won’t run. [/QUOTE] I think Al Gore would be a better President than anyone who’s running, but I agree: he’s almost certainly staying on the sidelines. Probably just as well. I don’t know what it is, unless people absorbed too much of all the nitpicky media coverage of him back in 1999-2000, but [his favorable/unfavorable splits](http://www.pollingreport.com/G.htm#Favorability) make Hillary’s look great by comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765/32 "2007-02-26T21:13:22Z")
My guess is that Gore would enter the race if, and only if, the Democrats had no other viable candidate. If all the leading candidates dropped out, or were crushed by a meteor, or if a clear front runner emerged whom Gore believed would either make a dangerously lousy president or was sure to lose to a dangerously lousy Republican candidate, I can see Al giving it another go. Otherwise, I think he’s happy enough to watch from the sidelines and promote his environmental issues. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765/33 "2007-02-26T21:18:19Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] or were crushed by a meteor [/QUOTE] Me tee or! Me tee or! Me tee or! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765/34 "2007-02-26T21:52:55Z")
[Relevant article from _The Nation._](http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?pid=169436) ---
**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:** [February 26, 2007, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765/35 "2007-02-26T23:29:15Z")
[QUOTE=John Corrado] If he runs, and especially if he wins, the Nixon parallels will be way too spooky. \ Might as well start referring to Gore as tanned, rested, and ready. [/QUOTE] That is interesting, but did Nixon take on a new cause, as Gore did? (AGW isn’t _exactly_ a new cause for Gore, but he’s certainly done far more in the last six years than in the six before those.) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765/36 "2007-05-30T21:17:37Z")
Bump. I just finished _Assault on Reason_, a very oddly constructed book (basically- a long post on critical thinking/cognitive theory/history of information, then a long section bashing Bush for abusing this, then rinse, lather, and repeat) but one I’d heavily recommend. I liked it much more than _Inconvenient Truth_ (though I’ll admit that’s largely because in environmental debates I tend to agree with whoever spoke last). Above all, I got the distinct feeling the entire time that this book was a major testing of the waters. I think he’s going to run. Anyone else thought about it in the months since this thread? Or anybody else read this book yet? I’d love to discuss it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765/37 "2007-05-30T21:19:47Z")
It would make for an interesting dynamic between him and Clinton. (Bill, not Hillary.) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765/38 "2007-05-30T21:24:32Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] It would make for an interesting dynamic between him and Clinton. (Bill, not Hillary.) [/QUOTE] Well, yes, if by “interesting dynamic” you mean “electoral equivalent of a caged death match.” 😉 I mean, you can’t expect Bill to go against Hillary! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765/39 "2007-05-30T21:28:02Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Well, yes, if by “interesting dynamic” you mean “electoral equivalent of a caged death match.” 😉 I mean, you can’t expect Bill to go against Hillary! [/QUOTE] No, but has a VP running for office ever had his President endorse another candidate? Maybe Hillary will select him as her VP choice…? That could save a lot of money from the bumper sticker budget. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765/40 "2007-05-30T21:28:36Z")
I think a Gore/Obama ticket would be a serious force to deal with. Hillary’s too divisive, a lot of people are like I am with the “What exactly has Obama done [good, bad, or even noteworthy]?” to support his presidential bid but would risk him for Veep, John Edwards is a man I’d never buy a Buick from, and the also running are, to most Americans, “the also running”. Gore has the “still pissed about 2000 and anything Bushy” vote automatically, Obama has a huge percentage of the minority vote by virtue of being a minority and a Democrat, and Gore’s an exceptionally intelligent man (even if his ranking in “most annoying voice” has risen into the Top 40 now that Charles Nelson Reilly’s dead) who I think learned a lot from his 2000… experience (can’t really say loss) to make him a better political creature (and this book, while bashing the influence of media and irrationalism on the decision making process in elections, also shows he understands it). The fact he hasn’t endorsed anybody also is evidential he’s still thinking about it. If Giuliani gets the nomination then they need somebody with an equally big name and rep and I don’t think it’s going to be Hillary. Currently I’m leaning more towards Giuliani than any Dem, but I can see switching to Gore. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-al-gore-run-for-president/391765.md?page=3)