Al Gore is happy now.

[illinoisprogressive]

Just food for thought.
Al Gore was groomed by his family to be president. He went into politics as an obligation by his family. He spent most of his adult life doing it and trying to please his family.
After 2000 he reassesed his life and found his calling and love. he is now doing what is his passion and love.
So, I wonder why so many people want Gore to go back to doing what he did not love. Why people don't want him to be happy.
I feel it is selfish to expect him to fullfill your fantasies and wishes. He did that all his adult life for his family.
Now he has found something that makes him feel free and happy. we should be supportive of it and respect his choice.
To force the man to go back and endure the slings and arrows of the press and gop after having to do it in 2000 rather than doing something and finding praise and rewards and honors is selfish.
I don't want to cause upset as I would love him to run but, respect his desision and am happy he is happy now.
When I realized last summer he was not going to run I accepted it sadly and moved on.
I don't knock people for wishing but, we must respect his wishes and let him do what he wants and not what you want. I know it's hard but, if you cared about him you should let him be happy and support his wishes.
Let him lead the life he wants.
I guess I'm just confused as to why no one is taking into account his wishes and are expecting him to make you happy instead of himself.
Can you guys please just take this into concideration? Doesn't he deserve at least that?

[Wilms]

1. Not how it works.

He's been drafted! :hi:

[illinoisprogressive]

3. but, what about what he wants

[Wilms]

11. My apology. I was trying to be funny.

And I DO hear you.

Al may well be flattered but, for instance, I think the former band members of the group called the Beatles eventually became annoyed with all the calls for a reunion.

Gore may well be saying; "Let it Be".

[illinoisprogressive]

2. not trying to upset. I just felt the need to present another side to you.

[Christa]

5. I see what you mean

However; the country is falling apart - we need a strong candidate who can WIN the election.

I am sure he is taking that into consideration.

[DS1]

4. You're posting this in a board that's largely run on speculation

Just as most Internet boards run. Sure it's true that lots of DUers would get behind Al if he ran, and just as many would be happy if he did. But you're right, it's his choice. On the other hand, don't expect to stifle the call for him to run.

[jefferson_dem]

6. Even if he knows in his heart and his mind that he will never run for POTUS again...

i seriously doubt he considers the attention an adulation any sort of nuisance.

We all love to be loved and appreciated... And...after all... he has a book to sell. :bounce:

[pearl]

7. You are so right on this

He is an invaluable member of our human community and he has contributed incredibly and
guess what? we've got some fantastic candidates and a very deep bench.

[elocs]

13. We do have a deep bench. It's not like there is nobody from which to choose.

The Beatles analogy was good. We want our heroes from the past to come back and usher in the good old days. Too bad that so many were not as excited about Gore in 2000 or the election would never have been close enough to steal.

[John Q. Citizen]

20. Gore's time in the wilderness changed him into a more honest and

less calculated human. People weren't as excitied about Gore in 2000 for good reason. He was operating on inside the beltway perceptions of politics, instead of from his heart and his head, and his soul. He was doing what was expected by the consultants, the media, the elites and as such it didn't ring anywhere near as true. Some of our current candidates have this in common today with the Gore of 2000.

He still won, even so. He closed in the waning couple of months coming from behind on a more populist theme than many of his advisors were comfortable with.

It's why he won and he knows it. It's also really who he is.

Gore is our strongest candidate this cycle (or non-candidate, as the case may be.) It's not his past that's exciting, it's his present that moves people. Bob Dylan might be a better analogy to Gore.

Hillary is a better analogy to the Beatles, the nostalgia candidate.

[frogcycle]

8. I don't want him to run.

I want him to be president.

If there were a way to avoid the toxic political campaign, just levitate him into the WH, that would be great.

I honestly think he would be happy being president. It's the getting there he abhors.

He'll decide - at the last moment before that window closes, whenever that is, whether he is going to hold his nose and jump in. I hope he decides to. But I respect whatever he decides.

[NYCGirl]

9. No, we're not ready to get behind your favorite candidate right now, so chill awhile,

OK?

[kikiek]

10. I see it totally different. My take is that he is testing the waters. Won't go in if there is a

strong candidate and consensus.I don't see anyone emerging as of yet, and as time goes on I find myself wanting him to dive in. I think he will be a wonderful president.

[John Q. Citizen]

12. Yes, but why do you want Obama to be so unhappy?

Do you hate him that much? /sarcasm

IL Progressive. I'll bet you one dollar right now that Gore runs. If he doesn't, I'll donate a dollar to the Obama campaign and you get bragging rights. If he does, you donate one dollar to the Gore Campaign and I get bragging rights. Deal?

And I'm talking about the donation be made during the primaries

[BootinUp]

14. Well he has left the door a slight crack open

so you can't blame people for trying to push him through it.

[John Q. Citizen]

15. Well said. If Gore wants to shut the door he can anytime he wants.

[DemGa]

16. What are his wishes?

If Gore doesn't want to run for president, he can say "absolutely not" and people will move on. As it is, he has left the door open--and his country is calling him.

[rufus dog]

17. very good point

It takes me back to the debates prior to the 2000 election. I looked at him as someone who was told to be the president, not someone who wanted to be the president. (That is a compliment) We should back off and let him make the call no one should force him into a job he doesn't want. It is a B.S. position that should not be forced upon anyone.

[Buck Rabbit]

18. Screw his happiness, Draft his ass. n/t

[Uncle Joe]

25. Hear hear! Seconded and ditto all at once! n/t

[DesertRat]

19. Because he hasn't said NO

People aren't hounding people like Feingold or Kerry because they've said definitive NO's. Gore says things like "I haven't closed the door", "I've haven't made a Sherman statement", etc.

Until he comes right out and says "NO, I will definately not run in the 2008 election", I will still hold out hope.

[NastyDiaper]

21. It's the campaign, not the office...

...that he does not like. I belive that Al Gore would run for office, if not for being forced to run a 600 day campaign of money grubbing for TV spots.

He won't do it again. And to some degree that's why I reserve support for him.

Why people don't want him to be happy.
Selfish?
Don't respect his wishes?

Make me happy not him?

Oh man so unfair I don't even know where to begin. So I won't

I'm saying that if Al Gore wants to run a campaign without enduring 600 days of "slings and arrows" than I support that.

I'd be thrilled if Gore were on the primary ticket when I punch it next February. If he's not, I'll still be there to punch D's.

[Apollo11]

22. GORE - OBAMA 2008

Al Gore is the best person for the job, in terms of his experience, knowledge, intelligence and judgement.

I am dreaming of a Gore-Obama ticket in 2008. But there is no hurry for Gore to enter the race.

I think Al Gore is keeping his options open right now, watching how the "pre-season" goes. I don't think he yet knows what he will do. My guess is that the chance of him entering the race is somewhere between 20% and 35%.

Gore's current line - "I have no plans to be a candidate" - tells us that right now (today) he has no plans to run. But it doesn't prevent him from changing his plans and making new plans during the coming months.

Depending on how things pan out, and the reaction to his book, Gore can consider his situation over the summer and announce his decision (or if you prefer - "change his mind") sometime in the fall.

It all depends on the circumstances. In September, if the race for the Dem nomination is still wide open and Hillary's campaign is in trouble, it might create the conditions for Gore to enter the race.

Don't forget that Bill Clinton did not kick-off his campaign until October 1991. But Al Gore already has nationwide respect and name recognition that other wannabees can only wish for!

I say that Gore can wait until Sunday November 4th. Exactly one year out from the election, and 10 weeks before Iowa caucuses. Maybe on one of the Sunday TV talk-shows?

Unless and until Gore endorses another candidate, we have to assume that he is keeping his options open. So it is too soon for those of us who prefer Gore to switch our allegiance.

"If (Al) was going to run in the future, of course I would support him. I think he'd be a fantastic president. He already got a majority of votes of people in this country once, and so that says something."
-- Tipper Gore on Good Morning America, June 13, 2006
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2069724&page=1

THE LAST TEMPTATION OF AL GORE
By Eric Pooley
TIME Magazine -- May 17, 2007
Let's say you were dreaming up the perfect stealth candidate for 2008, a Democrat who could step into the presidential race when the party confronts its inevitable doubts about the front runners. You would want a candidate with the grass-roots appeal of Barack Obama -- someone with a message that transcends politics, someone who spoke out loud and clear and early against the war in Iraq. But you would also want a candidate with the operational toughness of Hillary Clinton -- someone with experience and credibility on the world stage.
In other words, you would want someone like Al Gore -- the improbably charismatic, Academy Award-winning, Nobel Prize-nominated environmental prophet with an army of followers and huge reserves of political and cultural capital at his command.
...
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1622597,00.html

Let's all find ways to show our support for Al Gore! :patriot:

Visit Al's site www.algore.com and read his blog http://blog.algore.com

Get ready for Live Earth on 7/7/07: www.liveearth.org

Sign the petitions at www.algore.org and www.draftgore.com

:kick:

[Enthusiast]

24. As long as Al Gore is.........................

If Al Gore continues writing books like The Assult on Reason he will be making a mighty contribution. His understanding of the problems facing our country is of the very highest order. However, I am afraid of the usual obfuscation if he would be elected. He would no longer be contributing, he would be fighting a constant media assult, much as Bill Clinton did. Corporations stand to lose too much if a Democrat is elected and the corporations control the media. If this isn't apparent now it soon will be as the sound bites become more stridently anti Democrat as the election approaches. Just consider for a moment the powerful corporations that have a strong interest in quelling Al Gore.

[rosesaylavee]

27. He addresses just that in his book.

I highly recommend it. You will be surprised by how canny he can be. I think he has a plan for the media difficulty. The media won't know what hit them.

[Guaranteed]

23. Understood, but when our country is falling apart like this, we all have

a responsibility to do what we can, including him. He has done so much already, but, amazingly, he can even do more.

[rosesaylavee]

26. In reading Gore's book this week

I can't believe he doesn't want to run, that he doesn't want a chance to right the wrongs being down in our name, that he doesn't want to get our democracy to work the way the founders intended it to.

He sees what it could be... I don't get that 'vision thing' from the current DEM candidates or not at the same high level of focus. This man has a vision for turning our country around and if given a chance - if he gets the opportunity to do what he sees can be done and energizes the country to follow his lead, we would see a renaissance of American culture and democracy that would make George Washington weep.

And I am only at chapter 4.