Friday, October 21, 2005

An Open Letter to Al Gore; Draft Gore Petition


Dear President Gore:

We the people of the United States of America are frustrated and angry with the present Republican leadership, and believe the country is headed dangerously in the wrong direction. There's been one colossal policy failure after another, and the current administration has perpetuated a culture of cronyism and corruption. We need to restore honesty, respect, integrity and accountability to the White House. And we need thoughtful, innovative, intelligent and moral leadership.

In 2000 you won the popular vote, and many believe the electoral college as well had it not been for political and judicial chicanery both in Florida and in the Supreme Court of the United States. Millions of us still think of you as our rightful president.

The country has changed drastically since 2000. The Iraq war has squandered $200+ billion, thousands of American lives, and untold political capital, with no end in sight. You were solidly anti-war from the get-go. The economy is challenged by unemployment, inflation, historic deficits and debt, skyrocketing gas and oil prices, declining consumer confidence and rising interest rates. You and President Clinton presided over one of the strongest economies in U.S. history. We've been shamed and embarrassed by woefully inadequate natural disaster and terror preparedness. You've been sounding the global warming alarm for years, and have worked hard to protect our precious environment. Your message would resonate quite well with a post-Katrina electorate. And we've been burdened by mounting moral, ethical and legal scandals from the current Republican leadership. Your character, integrity and family values speaks for itself.

There has been overwhelming grass-roots support for your candidacy, Mr. President. America is desperate for change. We want you to finish the successful mission that you and Bill Clinton began in 1992. We've started an online Draft Al Gore petition and we'll be amassing e-signatures from Americans nationwide who are very excited at the prospect of your candidacy. We'll contact you again shortly and keep you appraised of our progress.

Mr. President, America needs you. Please consider our urgent call for 2008. Thank you on behalf of Americans everywhere.

Andy Ostroy
Editor & Publisher
The Ostroy Report
New York, NY

CLICK HERE To Sign the Draft Al Gore Petition*

*AOL users: open in MSN Internet Explorer (http://new.petitiononline.com/AG2008/petition.html)
if signature page fails on AOL

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks Andy, and you are right about Al Gore he was one of the very few political big boys that voiced their opinion about this illegal invasion. I was signer number 5 so I hope we get 500,000 or more signatures.

Look, these other fellows that are thinking about running had better think again because by next year this invasion will really be a sore spot and by 2007 we'll still be there and by then countless deaths will have been chalked up. I have read many articles saying that ANY person that runs for President had better not been for the war even at the beginning, can we say Kerry, Biden, Edwards, Clinton, and Mr."Bush Kisser" McCain. This is why Gore and Dean would really make a team and a winning one at that.

Oh yes, by the time 2007 rolls around this country will be screaming for National Health Care now that GM got it's way with their medical problems, that opened the flood gates for every other company to do the same.

When gas is $4.00 a gallon or higher in 2007 (I don't care because I drive a Prius) Al Gore will be able to talk about the problem and bring solutions right after he's finished saying, "I told you so".

Anonymous said...

Signed and hopeful that he will. He appears to be our best bet in getting a person of quality in the White House. Good luck with the petition and thank you for putting it up. Go bloggers !!!

Anonymous said...

No thanks, I won't sign it.

It is partly Al Gore's fault that he did not become president. He gave up the fight right before he could have won the presidency. Everyone knows this.

Now if you start a 'DRAFT HOWARD DEAN PETITION, I will volunteer to be the first one to sign it!!!

KEVIN SCHMIDT

Anonymous said...

Great Idea! If Gore wont run - Draft him!! I submitted this page to "Stumbleupon" (A firefox extension where you can submit and rate web sites). BTW, the signeup page doesn't work in Firefox - I had to use Explorer.

Anonymous said...

Al Gore was robbed in 2000. Everyone knows it. Brother Jeb and Brothers Antonin and Clarence all particpiated.

Go Gore!

Anonymous said...

I can't think of more than five Democratic Party members at the national level I trust. Al Gore and Howard Dean aren't on the list. Except at the local level, the Dems are too beholden to corporate interests to stop the capitalist pillaging and imperial foreign policy.

Real change won't happen without a popular movement based on compassionate, intelligent, and committed action. Unfortunately, the citizens of the U.S. are too bought off and have bought into a individualistic and self-centered consumerism mentality to do what is needed. To say nothing of the willfull ingorance of crass evil of the "Christian" Right Wing.

And the rest of the world pays in spades.

Anonymous said...

our current mess is the result of choosing style (of a sort) over substance. competence is getting sexier by the minute. Mr Gore may not have a dazzling persona, (except when riled) but i can't think of anyone more capable and steady.

Anonymous said...

Al Gore is definately the right man to run in 2008. His campaign will write itself and sell itself. America will only have to step back and imagine how different our country and our world would be had the Supreme Court not over-stepped their bounds and illegally installed this moron we have now. Al Gore is absolutely brilliant on environmental and energy concerns and he has the heart and the intellect to lead this country for all it's citizens. And, like Clinton, he has the respect of other world leaders and would step into the presidency far ahead of any of those now serving in the Senate who were either bamboozled by Bush or closet warmongers like Bush.

Anonymous said...

Oop, got a little ahead of myself, I'm just Bluesage.

Anonymous said...

I spend my days teaching US history to inner city Latino kids. We're currently preparing for a test on the US Constitution. I think most of my kids will pass, but personally, I'm "losing my religion". If our "free press” was "on bended knee" during the Reagan era, how would we describe its behavior since the 2000 "election"? Could this crass class of neocons have succeeded in their efforts to con the people without our corporate controlled media serving as its megaphone? Where do we go to get our faith back? Who was the last politician we could turn to with admiration, respect and confidence? For me it's Al Gore. Mr. Gore your moment in history is before you. I'll understand if you too have lost your faith in our political process. After all, haven't you and your family already given enough to this country? But if you find that you do still possess the Enlightenment belief that reason (vs. greed) is the route toward redemption, our nation would be grateful and blessed.

Anonymous said...

Hey, peptition signers....I'm getting a screen that says

566 Response HTTP Version Unsupported
This Web page could not be opened with the specified browser HTTP version. Please contact the owner of this Web page for more information.

Please advise....

Anonymous said...

God, am I glad to see someone get this petition together...Wonderful idea, Andy. Gore claims he has no intention of running, but I believe the statesman in him might be vulnerable to the call of the People. Spread the Word, everybody....

Joe Smoe: American Citizen said...

I think Gore would have a shot, especially if you paired him with Edwards. Gore has the experience and should have already been Pres instead of the Chimp. Also a Gore/Edwards ticket would bring in the mentally challenged slack jawed Southern vote. Either way whoever wins is gonna have a helluva mess to cleanup after 8 years of BushCo.

Anonymous said...

Kevin,

Don't blame Gore for what happened in 2000. He did fight, and very hard, for over a month, but once the Supreme Court appointed Bush, there wasn't much he or anyone else could do, at least within somewhat legal parameters. (In contrast, Kerry capitulated very early in 2004, w/o even challenging the bogus results in Ohio.)

Anonymous said...

Andy,

Thanks so much for this petition. Al Gore is one of the only candidates who could win the White House for the Dems in 2008. He's been against this disastrous Iraq War from the start, standing in firm opposition to the neocons. He's supported an intelligent tax and economic policy, with smart ideas for education and especially for protecting the environment. And he's strong on National Security as well, with an anti-terrorism plan that doesn't invade innocent countries or suppress civil liberties at home. The USA deserves no less than Al Gore as the President-elect in 2008.

Few other Dems could win it for us. Mark Warner in Virginia would be another possibility, maybe also Wes Clark-- never hurts to have a top-respected general. Both have also been on top of the issues from the start. Certainly *not* Hillary Clinton-- most of my friends, reliable Dems since the 1960's, would vote 3rd party in the aftermath of a Hillary nomination. She's been kissing up to Bush on almost everything, especially this atrocious Iraq War and even trying to push for more wars, and she won't get support from the core voters.

But Gore, especially, would send the Democrats' base and the fundraising efforts into overdrive. He's being smart about this-- he's not declaring himself a candidate too early, lest he invite attacks from the Swiftboaters. He's staying coy at this point, but he's also staying keen. A strong show of support from the grass-roots will demonstrate that we're behind him. Seemingly reluctant candidates are also the strongest leaders when in office.

Anonymous said...

"Mr Gore may not have a dazzling persona, "

Oh, but he does. This isn't the Al Gore of 2000-- he's a powerful speaker now. Go hear one of his speeches, he ignites the crowd's energy when he speaks.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the petition, Andy!

I posted a daily Kos diary Draft Al Gore for President in 2008: Sign the Petition.

Please visit and RECOMMEND it. Once it make the recommended list, a ton of folks will join our movement.

Will be crossposting the diary at other places soon.

thanks
Neo

Anonymous said...

NEO, How does one "RECOMMEND" the Daily Kos diary woith the Draft Gore petition? And what's needed for it to make the "recommended list?"

JMoore said...

And how do you propose to have him as a candidate in this status quo, DIEBOLD run system? Al Gore himself said in a New Yorker Interview that he would not run if he could not give the free speeches he is givng now. He wouldn't be able to do that with the system we have in play now. So how do you all plan to decorporatize our Democracy and get the status quo powerbrokers out of it before 2008? And where were you all in 2004 then instead of settling?

The Ostroy Report said...

Great to see the petition taking off like this! Thanks for everyone's support...and be sure to send the link to everyone you know! The more we can virally spread this thing the more signatures we can amass.

OUR GOAL IS 500,000 SIGNATURES!

(BTW, anyone gets a 566 HTTP Response error screen...just open the petition in Internet Explorer. It seems to be an AOL problem)

Anonymous said...

"Great to see the petition taking off like this!"

IMO, it's a movement that's underway, Andy.

"OUR GOAL IS 500,000 SIGNATURES!"

Let's make it a Million. May take a bit of time, but it's actually doable,

-----------

Anon, you need to register (it's free) there, then visit the diary, and locate the "Recommend" button, and click it. But I think you need to wait for a day after signing up before you can recommend, I think. So, bookmark the diary, and return tomorrow to recommend it.

Anonymous said...

Anon reg. daily Kos: also, you need to be logged in, in order to recommend.

Here is daily Kos's front page: http://www.dailykos.com
Locate "login" on it, and then register a new account there.

Neo

JMoore said...

And how do you propose to have him as a candidate in this status quo, DIEBOLD run system? Al Gore himself said in a New Yorker Interview that he would not run if he could not give the free speeches he is givng now. He wouldn't be able to do that with the system we have in play now. So how do you all plan to decorporatize our Democracy and get the status quo powerbrokers out of it before 2008? And where were you all in 2004 then instead of settling?
~~~~~~
Anyone going to attempt to answer these questions?

Anonymous said...

Since 2000 our country has been disgraced beyond belief! It has been the longest nightmare of American history involving the deliberate murders of nearly 3000 innocents on 9/11 )see 911Truth.org and MUJCA-net)plus the hundreds of thousands in Iraq. ONLY AL GORE STANDS OUT LIKE A BEACON OF HOPE in this filthy,phony Christian atmosphere.

Anonymous said...

If Canada could only vote ....

Finally, a worthy effort...

Elena Montes
Quebec, Canada

Anonymous said...

These out-of-touch left wingers so exasperate me! Remember that they were the ones who were saying that there was no difference between gore and bush. If any still subscribes to that belief, they're as delusional as those that think Iraq attacked us on 9/11. Gore was the only national democrat to oppose the Iraq war before it became fashionable. Every time I see a Nadarite, I rub it in their face. Don't blame the supreme court or jeb or kathleen harris: who was surprised by their actions?? The left were supposed to be allies in the progessive cause, but, knowing the risk and how close the election was going to be, they choose to help GDub get elected. I blame Iraq on their choice. I blame the budget deficit on their choice. I blame the dishonor that clouds America on them. Et tu, Ralph? Qualified, thoughtful, virtually omniscient and ready to rumble! Al, you have my $2000 contribution the day you declare!

Anonymous said...

We need him to run for president in 2008. Without him, who knows how long human kind will last until we become just another extint species. Of course the end of our species would be our own fault. Driven by money and power, we are letting the planet die. I support Al Gore for president even more after watching "An Inconvenient Truth". He has done more not being president then bush has being president. If he won the election of 2008 and all he did was fix global warming, then he secured our future as a species. I want to have kids one day, but thinking they could grow up in this corrupt world where we continue to kill ourselves is just ridiculous. Gore has the facts, we as a nation need to take action to stop global warming. The fact that our parents and generations before us tried to say global warming did not exist is a punch to the face. Gore has it right. It doesn't matter what politcal party you are in or what country you are from, we are all people. He needs to run for president and help people care again.