Sunday, May 21, 2006

Is the Mainstream Media Piling on the 2008 Gore Bandwagon?


Al Gore seems to be everywhere lately, and on the tips of many mainstream media tongues. He's giving more impassioned speeches than ever; graces a slew of magazine covers; did a hilarious bit on last week's Saturday Night Live; his critically-acclaimed global warming film opens this week; and he's getting a ton of mainstream press coverage. Sunday's entire Chris Matthews Show was dedicated to the likelihood of the former veep running for president in 2008, and his chances for winning the nomination. Pretty heady stuff for a guy who says he's not running and who's supposedly not being taken seriously by Democrats.

Speaking on Matthews' show, Time Magazine's Joe Klein said "I think he's thinking about maybe running, he's out promoting a movie, but I think he's gonna take step by step by step. He's a darling of the left, especially the internet left now. If he sees this continue over the next six months, I think he'll be there."

Prompted by Matthews' suggestion that the Democrats are looking for that left-of-Hillary candidate to rally around (Hill's been oddly pro-war and chummy with the Repugs as she attempts to copy her hubby's successful triangulation strategy), the BBC's Katty Kay said "This is exactly what Gore's people are saying. They will tell you the country has changed. That the ideas that Al Gore was talking about back in 2000--global warming, the Iraq war--...that Al Gore is looking more credible on those issues that perhaps people didn't buy into in 2000. So, there's been a change of climate in the country, and I also think people are gonna start wondering if Hillary is as electable as they may have thought."

And NBC's David Gregory said many Democrats are frustrated with Hillary already seemingly running a "general election campaign" without having won the nomination yet, while "Al Gore's got the credibility, the foreign policy experience, been opposed to the war for a long time, is connected to the so-called 'net-roots to the internet."

There's been much talk lately of Gore's supposed war chest and his ability to raise funds in a race against Hillary. Said Kay: "Because he has all this money and he has the name recognition, he can get into this game pretty late in the whole process, and that allows him to run himself as somebody who's an outsider." Gore also has the support of key fundraising organizations and support groups such as MoveOn.org, and would likely have use of Howard Dean's coveted donor mailing list.

In a story Saturday The NY Times suggested that "proponents of a Gore comeback are quick to stake their own claim, oddly enough, to the precedent of Mr. Nixon. They catalog the parallels between the two men's electoral histories. As with Mr. Nixon 40 years earlier, Mr. Gore was a sitting vice president who lost in one of the closest races ever. He left the national stage and made an ill-fated reappearance (Mr. Nixon to lose the California governor's race in 1962, Mr. Gore to endorse Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign, which tanked). Mr. Nixon eventually triumphed, eight years after his bitter defeat, at the expense of an incumbent party hampered by an unpopular war." I've been saying this for almost a year now. Gore's the New Nixon. He's The Comeback Kid.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think the reason he is "not being taken seriously by Democrats." Is because they're afraid. I think they essentially know if he enters the race it is over for all other Dems. I don't think that is a bad thing.

Why not rally around Gore early and not cat fight, there will be plenty of that from Rove... even from prison.

Anonymous said...

Those who are staying on the sidelines are watching Hillary.

To them, Hillary is the IT girl. However, with her moving so close to the wingnut faction lately in such an obvious posturing for the '08 presidential nod the sideline observers are thinking she'll move back to the left next year which will really only put
her in the middle.

It won't be enough to beat back the right and it will surely alienate the left who've been brutal towards her (count me in as one of them) because she voted for the bush doctrine. If she gets the nomination, the right will win yet again because our side has beaten itself.

The rightwing has failed this country on all counts so... Hillary moving to the center would not be enough. I say 'moderates be damned'.

Gore being far to the left is the only way we'll begin to heal the almost ruination of domestic policy and in turn he'll re-adopt and embrace international diplomacy.

No one else has the gravitas to accomplish this. NO ONE. Mr. Gore
is IT.

Anonymous said...

I would vote for Gore in the primary if only to help right a past wrong!

Anonymous said...

I live in the great state of Ohio and I can tell you that among my circle of friends and fellow democrats out here, the thought of Gore running again is very exciting to say the least. There will be a groundwell of support for him if he decides to run, which I certainly hope he does.

Anonymous said...

Yep, been sayin it since '88. Gore's the real thing. A real statesman, a real thinker, a real mensch, and a real president. Can't imagine why he'd actually WANT the damn job, but I pray that he does. We need the best of the best to climb out of this muhfuh pit we've fallen in....he's THE MAN. Have mercy on us, Al....

Anonymous said...

Nixon didn't win in 68 because of an unpopular war. He won because Bobby Kennedy was assasinated. If not for that, Kennedy would have been President in 68. And how hypocritical to see the same media that treated Gore like a dog in 2000 now jumping on any bandwagon. They just want a Gore/Clinton grudge match to divert from the crimes of this regime, which apparently, Democrats don't even want to discuss either. I don't see how Gore would even WANT to get back into this sh**.

Anonymous said...

AL GORE WON LAST TIME AND CAN HAVE A LANDSLIDE WIN IN 2008.I WOULD NOT VOTE FOR THE CLINTONS AGAIN,I CAN NOT TRUST HER OR BILL AFTER THEY WERE ADOPTED BY THE BUSH FAMILY.THEY ARE IN POCKETS AND CONTROLLED BY LARGE CORPERATIONS.SO AL YOU ARE OUR LAST CHANCE,WE NEED YOUR LOCKED BOX.