Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Gore Speaks Out on 2000 Election. Would Tipper Support Another Run at White House?


Hard to believe it's post-Labor Day already, and that means we're on serious Gore-Watch. Twenty-six days and counting until October, the time frame for which I believe the former veep will toss his hat into the '08 ring. I'm holding firm on this prediction, especially as I believe Illinois' Sen. Barack Obama is "fizzling," to use the phrasing of former prez Bill Clinton during a recent chat I had with him. The turf is ripe for a Gore candidacy, and I'm still betting the farm we'll hear from him on this soon.

In the current issue of Vanity Fair, Gore speaks out for the first time about the effect the press had on him and on the 2000 presidential election. He doesn't blame the media for his loss, he told contributing editor Evgenia Peretz, taking responsibility for his communication shortcomings and his inability to build a rapport with voters.

"Modern politics seems to require and reward some capacities that I don't think I have in abundance such as a tolerance for spin rather than an honest discussion of substance," Gore said. "Apparently, it comes easily for some people, but not for me." Asked to comment about his high-profile behavior at the 2000 debates--behavior that many say ruined his chances of becoming president--Gore told Peretz: "The sighs, the sighs, the sighs. Within 18 hours, they had turned perception around to where the entire story was about me sighing. And that's scary. That's scary."

Tipper Gore told Peretz that following the loss, "we were roadkill it took a long time to pick ourselves up from what happened." As for whether her hubby plans to enter the race, she said that Al has not given any indication that he's running, but that she'd support a decision to do so....and that they'd play it a bit smarter this time around given what they learned from 2000.

With NY Senator Hillary Clinton consistently pulling ahead in the polls, Gore must be eyeballing the landscape and wondering if this is not his date with destiny. Stay tuned....


On another note, we could use your help at The The Adrienne Shelly Foundation. We are a tax-exempt, non-profit organization dedicated in my wife's honor to help carry out her spirit and passion, with the goal of assisting women filmmakers. Adrienne was brutally killed in NYC on November 1, 2006. Through the Foundation, her commitment to filmmaking lives on. We've established scholarships, grants, finishing funds and living stipends at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts/Kanbar Institute of Film; Columbia University; American Film Institute; Women in Film; the Independent Feature Project; the Nantucket Film Festival; and the Sundance Institute.

On November 12 in NYC we will be holding our first annual Fundraising Gala, with a musical performance by Alanis Morissette followed by a celebrity reading of Adrienne's script "The Morgan Stories," featuring Paul Rudd, Edie Falco, Ally Sheedy and many others. To learn more about our mission, to make a tax-deductible donation, and to sign up to receive details about the November benefit please visit our website. Every contribution helps preserve Adrienne's legacy, allows us to help others, and creates something positive out of this tragedy.

Adrienne's film "Waitress" opened in theatres May 2nd to rave reviews from the NY Times, LA Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Time, People, Entertainment Weekly, Ebert & Roeper ("Two Thumbs Up"), Leonard Maltin and others, and has so far grossed $19-million domestically and almost $1-million internationally. The DVD will be available in November. It's a truly wonderful film that you're sure to love. A link to the trailer is below. Enjoy.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/waitress/trailer/

25 comments:

enelson said...

I hope you are right; I fear you’re wrong. The siren call of safety and book deals may be too much.

Elizabeth Edwards had the courage (or alternatively, the political calculation) to address the elephant in our living room: Hillary, a talented leader, is hated by a sizable segment of the population (including my mother; while my father voted for Nader—the political odd couple). Yes, it’s irrational. But, American's have never let irrationality stand in the way of their convictions. How else can you explain the belief that Iraq was behind 9-11?

If Hillary can't win, what of the rest of the field? As Bill Clinton noted, Obama has fizzled. The "Obama girl" sang his funeral dirge. Edwards, though admirable in many ways, has been cast as a lightweight with a comb. Richardson is the Wesley Clark of 2008: a lot of initial promise, betrayed by two left political feet. Perhaps the most credible and competent of the candidates, Joe Biden, allowed himself (or his mouth allowed him) to be snidely labeled a buffoon. This is worse than “Hillary hate”; its trivialization.

From a strictly “real politik” sense, what could Al Gore do? He could inspire. He could appeal to the greater good. With his global warming credentials, in his inaugural he could paraphrase John F. Kennedy buy stating, “Ask not…what life can do for you. Ask, what you can do for life”. He could have a woman (Hillary), a black (Obama), or an Hispanic (Richardson) as VP. He could win.

So Al? If you’re listening? Put the “road kill” self pity aside. This is your time; this is the time America needs you.

Unknown said...

I'm afriad I wouldn't put too much stock in Al Gore.

Two reasons.

1) Al Gore. Hillary Clinton. John Kerry. They all have the same weakness: they are perceived to be non-charismatic & non-personable. In reality, this couldn't be any further from the truth. Al Gore was actually voted one of the sexiest people alive in People magazine and he had us all laughing in the aisles when he did appearances on Futurama & SNL. John Kerry wasn't afraid to retort against Tom DeLay when he accused him of not supporting the troops -- "I don't need to explain my patriotism to Tom DeLay! (a subtle reference to Tom Delay's alleged draft-dodging)" and, in person, he is actually well-known to use expressions like "dude!" and "hell yeah!". Hillary Clinton hit the NYTimes bestseller list and won a Grammy -- and back in the 90s, she didn't hesitate to trade barbs with Phil Gramm in the Senate committee hearings.

But... for reasons I can't quite put into words... the media and the GOP-venom machine was able to (or will be able to) create the "perception" that these people are "non-charismatic & non-personable".

Likewise, for the same reasons I can't quite put into words, I don't see the same danger with John Edwards or Barak Obama heading the ticket.

2) Al Gore. Hillary Clinton. John Kerry. Another weakness they shared. Despite the fact that they are themselves very liberal, when push came to shove, they allowed inner-circle "play it safe" DNC consultants to call the shots and re-program them into moderate, spineless, androids. Contrary to popular belief, making adjustments like this does NOT draw in moderate or opposing voters -- but it CAN alienate your own base.

Why else would Rove and Bush keep giving so many presents to the far-right? If anything, Bush INITIALLY made his appeals to the center, then when election time came closer, began making stronger appeals to the BASE.

Hillary or Al Gore... if they ran... however liberal or unapologetically left-wing they might make themselves appear now or previously, I sense might let the consultants muddle up things again....
=(

Christopher said...

U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-Palm Beach Gardens) met with the editorial board of the TCPalm Newspaper on Wednesday for a freewheeling question andanswer session.

Among his comments:

He has met individually with most of the 2008 Democratic candidates for the presidential nomination, but hasn’t determined who he will endorse. Mahoney said there is “a very good chance” that former vice president Al Gore will make a bid. If Gore does, he will be “very formidable” because Gore has been “right” on his predictions about issues such as Iraq and global warming.

Anonymous said...

Gore can't blame the media for his 2000 loss to Bush. He lost his home state. If we won the state where people know him best, he would have been the President.

Anonymous said...

Of course Gore lost his home state. His home state is Tennessee. It could not be more "red" nor more religious right-conservative. How could Gore, a liberal Democrat who was, "God help him", Clinton's VP get the state's support? I bet some of Gore's relatives voted for Bush, which is not an indication of Gore's unworthiness, but the number of Religious Right Republicans in TN.

I visited some friends in TN this summer and was shocked that they still brought up Clinton's "I didn't inhale", and Monica. They're not over it yet. Unless they've had an awakening, Gore would lose TN again as would Hillary, Obama and any Democrat.

Anonymous said...

wow...someone you know in Tennessee brought up Clinton's lies. The whole damn state must still be talking about Clinton's lies.

I was in California this summer and was shocked that someone was in favor of the Democrats support of slavery. Should I extrapolate your logic and apply it to the state of California?

Anonymous said...

I love Al Gore even met him once at a book show years ago when he was a senator. I like him them and still like him now.
But I do not want to see him run. Should Karl Rove defeat him again the country would never recover from the trauma.
So keep about your good works, you and Clinton with his new book "Giving" are working wonders to bring the world together with good old common sense.

Anonymous said...

I just wonder if the voters will be duped by the GOP media machine this time. They listened to them in 2000 and 2004 and look at what has happened.

If voters fall for it again, then we only have ourselves to blame on the demise of our once great nation.

Anonymous said...

Based on Karl Rove's latest comments about Sen. Clinton, made when he left Washington, he seems to be setting her up as the Dem candidate> I'm not sure whether he sees her as extremely vulnerable due to her high negatives or as inevitable due to her appeal to hardcore Dems. But I suspect that he, like the rest of the Repubs, is afraid of a Gore candidacy because Gore is now a more seasoned campaigner and has all the prestige of "An Inconvenient Truth" supporting him. In my view, a Gore candidacy would be good for the Dems as well as for the nation, since it would give those who dislike Sen. Clinton a viable alternative. I hope Gore does run!

Anonymous said...

Forget hope Al Gore runs, I am PRAYING Al Gore runs. I am afraid of what is going on now with Iran. No one is speaking up and getting media coverage. Al Gore should announce now and get his voice heard to divert World War III. The democrats are failing us, the media is failing us, we need some help from above and Al Gore could "Speak for Me". How different the world would be if Al Gore were running the country during these past years. COME OUT NOW AL GORE, SPEAK FOR ME, STOP THIS MADDNESS! If Al Gore would announce now, the media would have to cover it. Al Gore could come out swinging for diplomacy and honesty, not war.
One Lonely Voice in Cleveland

Freedem said...

Try this for a thought experiment:

The GOP controlled Florida Lege set Jan 20 as Primary day. The DNC got all the "official" candidates not to run in Fla. and says the Fla Delegates will not be seated.

Given the circumstances it would not be difficult for a "surrogate" Gore campaign to actually win very big (even as write in), and thus start a wild fire across the rest of the states.

The fight among the Democrats is inevitable over this Florida primary mess, why not make it meaningful.

Al Gore has my primary vote no matter if it counts or not, how about others?

Freedem said...

BTW-
Given the tsunami of election fraud in any place the Gang Of Pirates controlled, there is almost no one who knows what the real vote count was, since 2000 or perhaps before.

We do know that that has been a GOP program, so that the reality is that Gore got a lot more votes that showed up counted, like dead Iraqis and drowned New Orleanians, just because they weren't all counted doesn't mean that they did not exist.

Gore certainly won the presidency, and perhaps his own state as well, no one will ever know for sure.

Anonymous said...

10:37 AM,
Liberals don't care about voter fraud. The Democrats are the party blocking identification checks at the polling stations.

Anonymous said...

I have been hoping that Al runs in 2008 and I wish I was optimistic as Andy is but I think he's worried about going against Hillary. That said I think this is his year if he's going to give it a go. He has been very quite of late and we have heard NOTHING about him in the news, is this the lull before the storm? Is he getting his game plan set for the announcement and it's going to be a total surprise? We have not a word from Al for some time now and that could be a sign that he'll hit the campaign road.

Here in Florida everything is a mess with the early voting. Was it a mistake, who knows but one thing I do know is that I will be giving nothing to my party, only emails and letters complaining about their disallowing of votes in the primary. I have sent the letter below to every Democratic group that is looking for money and first on my list was the DNC. I plan to write in Al Gore in January and hope all Floridians do the same, after all our votes won't count anyway.

To Whom it may concern,

Being a life long Democrat and a "one time" backer of Howard Dean I have to say my wife and I are very upset at the party. In the past we have ALWAYS worked and gave to the party no matter what but NO MORE! Not allowing our votes to count here in Florida is the last straw and just shows us that the party really does not care about it's reliable members.

Giving Iowa and New Hampshire first dibs on who the next candidate will be is out dated and we should have some say in the process. Yes we should have a national day for voting but until then we always had to take second and third best.

Not only will we NOT give to the DNC, we will NOT give to ANY candidate that boycotts this state either now or next year for the primary election. We will NOT put any bumper stickers on our cars or signs in our lawns.

The party had better make an about face before it is too late as the blogs on the internet and the major papers are telling the same story as I have just stated. People are fed up with this game playing and the check books are staying closed here in Florida.

Sincerely,

John and Marilyn W........
Largo, FL

Anonymous said...

I'm a Democrat who wants Mr. Bush and his crowd sent home. But Democrats are not going to win the White House with Mrs. Clinton. We've already done the Clintons. One was enough, and I voted for him both times.

Al Gore was robbed of the presidency. Don't hit him for losing Tennessee. The Volunteer State has gone right wing since the days of Sen. Estes Kefauver and Mr. Gore's father.

I would vote for Mr. Gore, for John Edwards or Joe Biden. Gore and Biden are superbly qualified. Democrats will blow this election if they anoint Hillary Clinton, a bright lady who has no business in this race.

Roy Hobbs

Anonymous said...

I was just called by the Obama camp asking for money. I asked the girl if she was calling from Florida and she said no, Denver. I told her that she was wasting her time calling anyone here in Florida as we will not have our votes counted and that ALL of the candidates have signed a pledge not to campaign here. I told her I would not give a cent to anyone until the DNC changes there mind and counts my vote in January.

The gal had not heard about this and I told her she better check it out from the DNC because they are wasting their time calling Florida.

I suggest others to do the same and now I'll be writing our local paper The Saint Petersburg Times and give them a letter to the editor about what had just happened with a campaign worker. I think others should do the same even if they don't live in Florida.

Anonymous said...

3:28 PM,
You are a neocon repug shill!! You slimeball, go scratch!

Anonymous said...

Michigan is in the same boat as Florida with an early primary in the works.

The DNC better wake up!

Anonymous said...

3:21 PM,
You can't say "The DNC better wake up!" in this blog, you republican nazi.

Go to Hell!

Anonymous said...

has anyone noticed that the latest Osama Bin Laden video sounds exactly like it was written by Howard Dean and the Democrats ? Well, except for the low-taxes part.

Anonymous said...

And I suppose you would compare the Republicans who ran against Roosevelt as agreeing with Hitler?

Anonymous said...

As a lifelong Democrat, I have never been more dispirited.

Where is the party of my hero, John Kennedy - a man who would likely disown his brother if he were alive today.

Where are the positive ideas for the nation, as opposed to the politics of large numbers, creating pools of people perceiving themselves to be victimized so that they can harvest Soviet style majorities. Black, female, gay, etc., now they seek to make illegal aliens their largest booty.

What of the grand ideas for a nation unto itself? Kennedy urged us to go to the moon, to stimulate economic activities (he favored tax cuts), he spoke of forward progress for the benefit of all. He wasn't into parsing the nation into pockets of victims.

He didn't demonize business with the sky is falling fears like the current hysteria over so-called global warming. He recognized that it was the engine of the nation's increasing prosperity.

The government didn't invent the microchip, or the automobile, or TiVo.

Democrats today seem more concerned with power than philosophy. Whenever any of our candidates have flaws that we would skewer Republicans for, it gets brushed aside.

How in the world can Hillary be such a darling when she is such a cold, calculating person who so obviously wants the presidency because she wants to validate herself, as opposed to someone who comes forward to do it because they have big ideas that require the big office to achieve?

The Clintons are the classic yuppie, I want what I want when I want it couple, unmoored by any loyalty to any philosophy. When the first Bush broke his word on read my lips, he lost his base. When Clinton imposed don't ask, don't tell, when he gave in to welfare reform and NAFTA because HillaryCare made him so unpopular, he actually gained support in his base due to the threat to power.

Forget about Lewinsky - how many politicians could survive being surrounded by so many scum buckets - the Hsus, the Tries, the Marc Riches, McDougals, Webb Hubbells, etc. - let alone come out of it even stronger base wise?

Forget about the low life Republicans, don't WE stand for something? Can't we insist on character from our candidates?

How is it that Larry Craig is such a dirt bag, but we tolerate guys like Barney Frank, Ted Kennedy, Alcee Hastings, Al Sharpton, and our friend from Florida with 100 grand in his freezer?

What is the defining mission of today's Democrats other than saying they're not Republicans?

Gore? He is a world class phony and has always been so. His global warming movie is surely entertaining - but its got a lot of junk science in it that comes from researchers who live in the cocoon of extremist academia.

This is a guy who flies in Gulfstreams while he tells us to buy hybrid cars and bicycles. He buys his carbon credits from himself - he owns the company.

I voted for Nader twice and I'd vote for him again until this party finds it's core values and true mission.

Anonymous said...

8:38 Nice try you Republican mole, but you're just not clever enough to pull it off. Your comments are too "over the top". Any real Dem who felt as you do would change parties. You know, like Lieberman.

10:59 is also a Repubican posing. He is pretending to be an offensive Democrat.

Anonymous said...

There is an empty house on Pennsylvania Ave. People are there but the Democracy they are supposed to represent is hollow. Please Mr. Gore, try to come home to us as the President of the United States.

Unknown said...

Former V.P. Al Gore, is the best candidate we have in the United States of America. Intelligence comes to mind, after six years of an idiot. Listen to him speak, and the ideals and ideas he represents. AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!
America needs AL GORE!!!