Frank Rich: Gore 'right man in right place at right time'

[kpete]

Frank Rich: Gore 'right man in right place at right time'

RAW STORY
Published: Saturday May 27, 2006

Al Gore is the "right man in the right place at the right time" thanks to "a perfect storm of events," writes Frank Rich in his latest column slated for Sunday's New York Times, RAW STORY has found.

Although Gore "may not be able to pull off the Nixon-style comeback of some bloggers' fantasies," Rich believes that the former Vice President is capable of "patriotically goading the national debate onto higher ground."

Rich compares and contrasts the recent coverage of Gore - citing the mainstream media and blogs such as Huffington Post and Daily Kos - with that of the Democratic "party's presumptive (if unannounced) presidential front-runner, Sen. Hillary Clinton."

"Last week both New York magazine and The New Yorker ran lead articles quoting party insiders who described a Clinton candidacy in 2008 as a pox tantamount to avian flu," Rich writes. "The New York Times jumped in with a front-page remembrance of headlines past: a dissection of the Clinton marriage.""If Hillary Clinton is the Antichrist, might not it be time for a resurrected messiah to inherit (and save) the earth?" asks Frank. "Enter Gore, celebrated by New York magazine on its cover as 'The Un-Hillary.'"

Rich calls "Gore's non-denial denials" whenever asked if he has "plans" to run for president again "Clintonesque."

"If 'An Inconvenient Truth' isn't actually a test drive for a presidential run, it's the biggest tease since Colin Powell encouraged speculation about his political aspirations during his 1995 book tour," writes Rich.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Frank_Rich_Gore_right_man_in_0527.html

[Snivi Yllom]

1. Gore is the new Dean+

He just needs to avoid any Yearrrgghh moments.

Plus, Gore could be self financed.

[faithnotgreed]

3. right now i have an idealized vision of al gore

it makes sense that he cannot talk about a presidential candidacy at this moment
but he is talking passionately about a centerpiece topic should he decide to run (or has he already decided)

but in my mind this al gore IS the best hope we have for this country
in my mind - when he is able to let loose and truly debate and answer questions - he is going to take it head on and speak out
he will be able to display his clarity, thoughtfulness, humanity and his fight in a way that we have not seen for some time from ANY candidate

the speeches he has given - that received little coverage - over the past few years have made all the difference about how i see him

like i said i know i am idealizing but i do think its possible
the pundits and dlc can take their swings at him all they want to but i feel like if america gets to hear any of this man v 2.0 (in a crucial part of the journey he has turned away from the disconnected dc- insider group and connected with himself and his beliefs in a powerful way) then i truly think he can win hearts and minds across the country

he has the experience and the courage and the passionate intelligence and ability to communicate
if the perfect storm really does come together i think al gore will blow people away
in my idealized mind this man will be unlike any other politician we have seen in recent times and NO WAY will he let the right wing noise machine control the debate or define who they want him to be

thank you frank rich for this article

[janx]

15. Gore would be much more popular than Dean.

if the netroots are any indication. He has huge respect from all kinds of people, especially since he started being himself in front of the cameras.

[Minnesota Libra]

2. I think Gore is waiting until after Nov elections to say anything.........

.....but as of November 10th that man better announce:bounce: he's running for President.:patriot:

[Larkspur]

5. If Lieberman gets ousted by Lamont in November that may help Gore

make a decision about running for the Presidency.

I don't think Gore will make a decision right after the elections. He'll probably make it a month or 2 after the November elections.

[Larkspur]

4. It's long past time we have a moral leader instead of flashy ones

Clinton was flashy and a smart politician, but he was stupid with interns and how the Reichwing would use that indiscretion for their political purposes.

Bush got a pass from the Media because they were part of the Reichwing con job on the American people, but Bush's incompetence is so bad and so dangerous for this country that the Media can not longer hide it. The Iraqi insurgency, the failure to capture Osama bin Laden, the resurrection of the Taliban in Afghanistan helped weakend Bush's image, but it was a domestic catastrophe that unmasked Bush to the American people. Hurricane Katrina erased forever Bush's illusion of a strong and compassionate leader.

Global Warming is a major issue and framing it as a moral one plays to Gore's strength. When the US gets hit by more hurricanes this year and FEMA and Homeland Security continue to look like fools, Gore's movie will be remembered by many. Hopefully, Gore will also speak out when Bush's incompetent goons fail the American people again.

"An Inconvenient Truth" allows Gore to unofficially test run a Prez bid while promoting his most passionate cause. It plays to his strengths and while helping the American people understand the problem, Gore, through this movie, is getting revenge against the Media that unfairly trashed him in 2000. The fact that many progressives who despised Gore in 2000 are now enthusiastic about him and are begging him to run for Prez in 2008 speaks volumes about his transformation and his moral character. What did Gore say in his speech after SCOTUS gave the election to Bush -- "Defeat is a way for the soul to let the glory out" or something like that.

If Gore decides to run in 2008, he will run the campaign his way, not the way of Bob Shrum and the inside the Beltway consultants. In hindsight, Gore was wise not to run in 2004 because the Media would have turned the campaign into a WWF rematch. In 2008, post-Katrina, post-9-11-01, post-2003-Iraq-War America will be more sober than in 2000 and 2004. Gore still has a mountain to climb with people not paying attention to politics, but the fact that he can arouse enthusiasm from progressives is a start in the right direction and the start of building a movement to take this nation back from the economic royalists destroying this nation.

[CountAllVotes]

6. we need to elect the Vice President

We knew this already of course and we tried and won. Too bad the election was stolen!

GORE '08 along with any other candidate HE CHOOSES to be his running mate!

I like:

Feingold
Roosevelt
Clark
Kucinich

to name a few ... :D

:kick:

[Faryn Balyncd]

7. substance and conviction

rather than triangulation

[BlooInBloo]

8. Is this actually in the newspaper yet?

I'm a bit leary about accepting the word of fringe (fringe to me at least) inet groups...

[Cha]

9. I don't like rich's

take on Gore's narration..

"The movie contains no other voices that might upstage him, not even those of scientists supporting his argument," writes Rich. "It is instead larded with sycophantic audiences, as meticulously multicultural as any Benetton ad, who dote on every word and laugh at every joke, like the studio audience at "Live With Regis and Kelly."

It's mean and fucking uncalled for.

[otohara]

10. Ick -

it's time to Gore, Gore again! Get ready for the onslaught of mud from the media if he does decide to run. It must be grueling to be the subject of such vitriol from the press.

[Mabus]

11. He didn't dare compare them to the sycophantic Bush audiences

Because then he would have disclose that people who attended Gore's talks weren't screened or hand-picked. Also the multiculturalism of Gore's audiences is something that Bush's handlers have to work on to make it happen. It also explains why Bush likes using the military as props - there a number of readily available minorities that can be ordered to be back drop.

Rich would also have to discuss another comparision of Gore's audiences to Bush's: the fact that people who went to Gore's presentation were there by choice and not because their boss wanted them there. My brother and some of his co-workers were given the day "off" if they went to see Bush give a speech. He was also invited to a couple of other Republican gatherings by his boss that he was afraid not to attend for fear of either being laid off first or not getting promoted.

Rich would have to disclose items like this:

Al Gore's Whirlwind Visit to Portland
Document Actions

* Email this page
* Print this page

Al Gore's Portland Visit, a Personal Account by Jonathan Poisner


On Wednesday August 31st I received a call from Terry Bean, a local Portland businessman who had just heard from former Vice President Al Gore. Gore was going to be in town next Tuesday September 6th and wanted our help pulling together a venue and a thousand people to hear him present a slide show talk about global warming.

Turning out 1000 people over the labor day weekend on such short notice seemed like a daunting task. Nonetheless, at noon on Thursday the 1st 20 of us from a dozen organizations sat around a conference table and mapped out a strategy, largely relying upon the power of email to get the word out. We rented the biggest room available on such short notice, a ballroom at the Convention Center.

Most of those in the planning meeting thought 1000 people was a pipedream. Much to our amazement when 6:30 p.m. Tuesday rolled around an estimated 2500-3000 people showed up at the Convention Center, far exceeding the ballroom’s capacity.

We were ultimaely able to fit 1300 people in the first showing and 600 people stayed around for a second presentation that Vice President Gore graciously offered to start at 8:30 p.m. An estimated 500-1000 people were unfortunately not able to see him.
Excerpt from The Oregon League of Conservation Voters website

or this one, an excerpt from The Oregonian newspaper:

With a message about the urgent need to combat global warming, former Vice President Al Gore drew unexpected thousands of Portlanders to the Oregon Convention Center on Tuesday night.

The crowds snaked around the corridors of the convention center, and those who were denied entry chanted and pounded on the doors until Gore agreed to do a second show.
Excerpt from The Clark County Democratic Party website

This isn't something the MSM is ready to talk about. But I know what you mean. It wasn't a comparision or characterization of Gore's audiences that I would have made.

What I do take exception to is that there are no other voices than Gore's. What does Rich expect? It is a movie about Gore's presentation. That is, the presentation that Gore has been doing. If they had used scientists the critics were either say he was trying to rip off "What the Bleep Do We Know" or say it was dry and should have been a PBS special or a direct to DVD release instead of theater released movie. Also, if they had used other voices CEI's benefactors would be after discrediting them. Although, come to think of it, it is too bad Bush gagged NASA's James Hansen. I'm sure he would have had a few things to say.

edited to correct links.

[Cha]

14. Thanks for all of this, mabus..

It's just totally nasty nicpicking on rich's part, something I would expect from novakula or bow-tie boy.

[cassiepriam]

12. Voters are very nervous, they will want a known quantity??

How about Gore/Clinton (Bill)

[pstans]

13. I have felt this coming for awhile now

Come 2008 and Gore might just be the right person.

[Kahuna]

16. Be still my Gore! Gore is the new term for..

my heart. God, I pray he runs. I prayed that he would run in 2004 too. He probably would be president right now if he had run.