Al Gore says NO again to at Tennessee bookstore....

[TnDem]

He basically states that Politics in it's current form simply do not mesh well with him..

Read it from a new article from the Nashville Tennessean from a recent Bookstore signing:

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070602/NEWS02/706020361

[patricia92243]

1. He should do it 'his" way. That can even be his theme song - the one by Sinatra -

"I did it My Way." I even believe there is a Elvis version.

Force politics to come to him - not the other way around!

Go Al!

[Zodiak]

2. I am reassessing

Gore recently put out a couple of statements in support of recent Democratic legislative moves that makes me question his willingness to fight (supporting the signing of the Iraq war bill and defending the resistance to Bush's impeachment).

No fight and Al is right...he can stay home and work on other issues.

I want a fighter, not a fence-sitter.

And I love Al Gore.

[NYCGirl]

3. So I guess Kucinich is your guy then? NT

[Zodiak]

22. He is looking like it

but Edwards is also showing more spunk than that, as well.

Don't get me wrong....Al Gore is still my first choice, but this being coy stuff is damaging the morale of his future supporters as are his recent statements providing cover for cowardice in our Congress.

Give me hellfire and brimstone Al, or Al can go home and work on global warming while the rest of us stand up to the Bush administration. The stakes are too high.

[Labors of Hercules]

4. He's right on both counts, so why would that cause you to reassess anything?

You may disagree on principle as I do, but reality is not always so black and white.

[Zodiak]

21. Because my vote is my own

and I do not believe he is right on both counts. I think his advice leads to no accountability for the Bush administration, and I find that unacceptable to the American people and the future of our country.

I do not fall into cult of personalities, and I would like to see something OTHER than risk aversion.

If Al Gore goes by way of the risk averse, I will not support him in the primary. Plain and simple.

[Labors of Hercules]

23. risk aversion? Cult of personalities?

I prefer neither. I prefer well-reasoned decisions based on evidence, and a judgement as to whether the ends will justify the risk. Just as I would not sink my money in an investment that has a 1/10000000 chance of return, nor would I call for impeachment when the chances are slim of conviction, the monetary cost is extremely high, and the risk of locking up all three branches of the government while (like it or not) we ARE at war is overwhelming.

On to your "cult of personality" BS. I, quite frankly, don't care much for Gore's "personality", but I see that an unusually large proportion of the decisions he has made, within the context of the time and the framework in which he has made them, have yielded a positive result.

I think Rockefeller said it best, "We don't always do as well as that upstairs" when he lost 40% on an investment. Gore's thinking has been proven right time and time again. I don't give two shits for his personality, I just prefer investing in ideas that have an extremely high chance of return.

[Zodiak]

24. A defensive post...no need

When I say I do not fall into cults of personality, I intended for the meaning to be just that, I do not base my loyalties on archetypes and personifications (archetypical "liberal" or an issue like environmentalism personified). If the candidate proves their worth, then that is great, but no one gets the benefit of the doubt.

Gore does not get the benefit of the doubt when he advocates positions that entail letting Bush off of the hook and peretuating this war. Those were bad rhetorical moves, in my opinion, and weaken Gores potential as a candidate for me. This despite his stellar recent reputation.

I was not accusing others of being in a cult of personality for Gore, so you may dispense with the cursing and the defensiveness. But I am not going to follow him because he is Gore, either. He has to put his cards on the table like everyone else.

By the way, I will reiterate that Gore is my candidate, as I have stated time and again, but I want fire and brimstone Gore, not the risk averse Gore we had in 2000.

[Colobo]

5. Good. We need to focus on the candidates we have, not on Messiahs...

[otohara]

6. Not Even Messiah

Obama?

[Ethelk2044]

7. Obama never said he was a Messiah

He and his wife are trying to show people he is an everyday person. He does not want to be seen that way.

[otohara]

10. Gore Never Said It Either

No one is going to come out and say "I am the messiah"

If you Google Gore/Messiah - Obama/Messiah and although Gore has more results, Obama has hundreds of thousand too.

[karynnj]

13. There is a book titled, Messiah by Gore Vidal

There is a danger using google and looking just at counts. I got far more Obama ones.

I do wish Gore would enter - not as the messiah, but as Al Gore.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

19. Neither man has ever tried to be seen as a Messiah; it's happening to Gore against his will.

Neither Gore nor Obama has ever tried to present themselves as a Messiah; both would I think prefer not to be seen that way.

A non-trivial number of DUers see Gore very much as a Messiah who is going to throw his hat into the ring at the last moment, and thus save them from having to back one of the Big Three.

I do not think this is going to happen; I think that there are only three candidates for Democratic candidate for President of the US worth considering (there are lots of other people who could do the job as well or better, but no chance that any of them will get it).

At this stage, the important things are a) choosing between Obama, Clinton and Edwards, and b) ensuring that whichever of them is chosen beats the Republican.

People concentrating on Gore turning up to lead us out of the wilderness probably means that Clinton is more, and Edwards less, likely to win than otherwise (my guess is that that is how Gore supporters would split).

[Larkspur]

12. Obama is not an ordinary person

He's a Liebercrat at heart.

[Clark2008]

8. I don't like the candidates we have.

I don't like the candidates the Republicans have, either.

Blah.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. I like our candidates, as imperfect as they are, a WHOLE LOT better

than I like their candidates. My most unfavorite is probably Hillary, followed by Biden, but I'd happily take either of them over *shudder* Ghouliani or Brownback or Tancredo or any of those wackjobs.

[Clark2008]

16. Sort of like choosing between vanilla beans and fruit loops.

LOL.

[many a good man]

9. 2012

"If you look at the analysis of what's wrong in the political system that is contained in this book, that's really the most important reason why I feel it may be better for me to focus whatever talents and experiences I have on trying to fix that system and to mobilize a majority in favor of solving the climate crisis rather than throwing myself once again into that system before it is fixed and getting into the same set of incentives that create the kind of political dialogue we have today. It may be easier to fix it from the outside."

Granted, the system won't get "fixed" in four short years, but the climate may cool, so to speak. He'll only be 64 years old in 2012.

[karynnj]

14. If the system got fixed in 4 short years, the President

assuming he/she helped in the fixing will not be challanged by Gore. I think Gore is saying that he sees that you can effect change without being President and that is the route he is taking.

He may also be saying that under the current system you can't win while remaining true to yourself.

[RestoreGore]

15. I think that is exactly what he is saying

And I think his approach to fixing it is brilliant.

[karynnj]

17. I agree

and I think Senator Kerry is following his example - but with a Senate seat to have a voice in the inside. (I like how they worked together with Gore praising the Kerrys' book and Kerry including the link to sign up for Gore's list to his 3 million person list.)

[hedgehog]

18. I think he needs to get in or get out.

Hanging around waiting for someone to fall on his or her face doesn't look good, IMO. People are still criticizing Bobby for delaying his entry in to the race 40 years ago!

[bamacrat]

20. Then he needs to back a candidate to stop the speculation.

If Al asked me I would suggest that he throw his entire political weight behind Kucinich. I really think its going to take a big name like Gore to get Kucinch's ball rolling.