The Hill: Gore considering entering race in the fall

[janekat]

Ok, this is from July BUT....

Backers pressure Gore to run again next year
By Alexander Bolton
http://www.thehill.com/news/073003/gore.aspx

Former Vice-President Al Gore is coming under pressure from political supporters and friends to jump into the 2004 presidential campaign even though he ruled himself out in December.

Gore’s spokesperson denied that there was any change of plans, but a former Democratic National Committee official close to Gore told The Hill he believes the former vice president may enter the Democratic primary this fall.

A second Gore confidant, Steve Armistead, a local Tennessee government official, said: “I think he’d like to grit his teeth and jump back in, but I can’t speak for him. I don’t think he liked the medicine he got from the Supreme Court.”

Armistead, a good friend of Gore’s for more than 40 years, said Gore has not indicated to him whether he would run. But he added: “I’ve had a lot of people that know him real well tell me that he ought to get back in. I hear it daily. ‘He got out too soon.’ ‘I wish Al never got out of the race.’”

afp photo

Former Vice President Al Gore has ruled out a White House run.

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Talk of Gore joining the race could be a trial balloon to test the atmosphere for a 2004 White House run. Gore lost in 2000 to George W. Bush in an election finally decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The former DNC official, who was active in Gore’s 2000 campaign, said his prediction of another Gore campaign is based on more than a hunch. But he declined to offer specific evidence.

He believes, as other Gore confidants do, that the political climate has changed significantly since December, making Bush more vulnerable to defeat in his bid for a second term.

“Things have dramatically changed since his announcement,” said the official.

“Bush has lied to the country, no one is articulating a foreign policy that’s resonating.”

However, Kiki McLean, Gore’s spokesperson, denied the possibility that her boss would declare his candidacy, adding his name to the nine already declared candidates and automatically moving into their front ranks.

“He is not a candidate for president, he’s made his position known and he has no intention of changing his mind,” said McLean.

Surveys show that Gore would have a good chance of capturing the nomination, even if he entered the race only a few months before the nation’s first primary next January in New Hampshire.

A Time/CNN poll conducted between May 21 and 22 showed that if Gore changed his mind and ran for president, 40 percent of Democrats and Independents who lean Democratic nationwide would vote for him. The Democratic runners-up, Sen. Joe Lieberman (Conn.), Sen. John Kerry (Mass.), and Rep. Dick Gephardt (Mo.), would each draw 7 percent of that vote.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll from mid-July showed that Bush’s support has dropped sharply amid growing concerns of U.S. casualties in Iraq and questions over whether the administration exaggerated Iraq’s efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction.

Yet Democrats so far have failed to capitalize on Bush’s potential weakness. A new poll commissioned by the centrist Democratic Leadership Council shows that the Democratic Party is losing support among white men.

A USA Today/Gallup Poll released yesterday shows that no more than 20 percent of the voters likely to pull the Democratic lever back any of the declared candidates.

The fluid situation has apparently kept a core group of Democratic fundraisers who played key roles in Gore’s 2000 campaign to remain aloof from the current candidates despite being courted intensely.

A former Gore campaign aide who surveyed fundraising data on politicalmoneyline.com noted that nine Gore supporters — eight of whom served as finance chairman, or deputy finance chairman at the DNC during the 2000 election — have by and large sat out of the Democratic primary.

Two of the three persons who had served as finance chairmen at the DNC in 2000 have contributed to presidential candidates, but otherwise remain uninvolved.

Carol Pensky has given $2,000 to Kerry and Joel Hyatt has given $2,000 to Lieberman this year. Hyatt said in an e-mail that he’s too busy to become more involved. The third finance chairman, Joe Cari, has yet to give to any of the candidates.

Of the fundraisers who served as deputy finance chairs at the DNC during Gore’s run, Pamela Eakes has given $750 to former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, Christopher Korge has given $2,000 to Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) and Alan Kessler has given $1,500 to Lieberman.

Ken Jarin and Peter Knight have yet to give.

In interviews, Eakes and Kessler said they are not yet committed to a candidate.

Another Gore official, who also worked on the 1996 and 2000 campaigns, said: “These folks are playing in a non-material, insignificant way. These were the top fundraisers for Gore and the party in 2000 and they are basically keeping their wallets shut and more importantly not asking their friends colleagues to help with an ’04 candidate.”

[KoKo]

1. From July????????? I don't think so.......why did you think about it

though? All his former campaign folks are committed now.....there's no way he would think about this......the field is too large. He said no.......I have to believe him.........:shrug:

[grytpype]

2. Oh my ghod. I can't believe this.

If he gets in, I want to be his speechwriter.

The first speech I would give if I were Gore:

Not a long time ago, the United States had Bill Clinton as its President. During his two terms in office, America enjoyed the best years it has ever had. The nation was at peace with the world and enjoying great prosperity. When America's force of arms was put into use, it was in the aid of humanitarianism, and the missions were successful. Bill Clinton intervened in the Bosian crisis, and reached a successful and stable conclusion without the loss of one American life. The federal budget was balanced, and we actually looked forward to retiring the national debt. And Bill Clinton achieved all this in the face of untiring and ruthless oposition from the Republican Party. By their standards, they were committing treason on a regular basis while Bill Clinton was President.

After a very dubious election in November 2000, George W. Bush became President. And the Bush years have not been good years for America. George W. Bush inherited a budget surplus from Bill Clinton and within two years turned it into the biggest deficits the world has ever seen, with no end in sight.

...and so on...

[billbuckhead]

3. I would fight for Gore like a Three Musketeer

I was going to say something nasty about the former governor of one of our smallest states, but I decided not to.

[grytpype]

5. More of the speech...

I was Bill Clinton's Vice President during those years, and I watched with amazement as our achievements withstood the slings and arrows of the Republicans.

As you all know, I ran for President as the Democratic candidate in 2000. And after the strangest election America has ever seen, George W. Bush became President. And the Bush years have not been good years for America. George W. Bush inherited a budget surplus from Bill Clinton and within two years turned it into the biggest deficits the world has ever seen, with no end in sight. And we have been drawn into a deep and indefinite war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I supported the invasion of Afghanistan after the events of September 11, 2001. I believed we must strike at the terrorists wherever in the world they are. And we had no choice but to trust in George W. Bush, our President. But he has not handled that responsibility very well. Most of Afghanistan is returning to anarchy, and terrorists and the Taliban have regained their power in some parts of the country.

And for reasons that are still not clear, half of our armed force capability is pinned down in Iraq.

... and so on ...

[E_Zapata]

4. I wish it were true.

I would fight for Gore like nobody's business.

He kind of owes us one more run. I think back to Nov 2000. I didn't know what to think or feel or do. One call to fight it by Gore - and I know all hell would have broken loose.

Yes, he should run. Even put Clark on as his running mate. What the hell.

[grytpype]

6. Gore is for real.

If he ran... exciting times.

But he has to have a case that things would be better under a Gore Administration. Which is quite easy to show.

[janekat]

7. Draft Gore site. Lets send some e-mails!!!!

http://www.draftgore.com/ych.htm

[elcondor]

8. Isn't that first article a little old?

Well, that doesn't really matter--if Gore jumps in, I'd drop Clark like a hot potato. (No offense to Clark--it's a first love thing.) I just hope that if Gore has decided he will, he doesn't mull around and wait too long. However, I'm not getting my hopes up because I think he would have hinted that he was going to run (rather than categorically denying it) due to the field being so large. Also, there have been rumors flying that he would jump back in ever since he said he wouldn't run . . . :shrug:

Y'know, it just goes to show--ever since the field was pretty much set, I've been meandering without a candidate. Now, I'm finally warming up to one (Clark) and Gore might run! ;-)