it's time for some serious noodling...how do we get Al Gore to run?

[ourbluenation]

talk amongst yourselves.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. How do we focus on winning in November 2006 first?

Talk amongst yourselves.

[ourbluenation]

4. It's called multi tasking.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

6. Maybe you missed the term "focus".

Which is to say, "concentrate one's attention on one issue".

[ourbluenation]

8. fine - go focus on that then...

since I became a mom my ability to focus on more than one thing at a time grew by leaps and bounds, but go on ahead and you noodle with that and that alone if you like.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

10. If I'm "noodling" on that alone,

No Democrat will win in 2008, I guarantee you that. We NEED to regain at least one House of Congress to win the White House.

[Cos]

2. What if I don't want him to run?

He's much better now that he's not a candidate. And there are better candidates. I'd much rather get Russ Feingold to run.

[NYCGirl]

3. Well then, you don't work on it. And let the rest of us work for Al. NT

[ourbluenation]

5. there ya go....

[mdmc]

16. Russ is a great guy

But I don't think he is a national player. I think that Gore / Clinton is a winning ticket. I voted for Nader in 96 and 2000. In 2008 I am (as of right now) voting lock step with the Dems. Even if Zell Miller is the dem, I am voting Dem.

[Cos]

20. Russ, Gore

I think Gore would have tremendous amounts of baggage from 2000. The left likes him a lot better now, but most of the country hasn't paid any attention to him since the 2000 campaign and that's what they'll remember (well, the politically active right have paid attention to him but they hate him).

Russ Feingold is not a national player in the same way Dean wasn't a national player in early 2002, but with the advantage of a year headstart, a better TV presence, more name recognition, and a much more active netroots and progressive grassroots.

[mdmc]

21. i would vote for Russ if he won the nomination

who do you think would make a good veep for him? I like Dennis Kucinich.

[Cos]

25. no opinion yet

... but not Dennis Kucinich. I'm glad he's in the house and he does good work there. But for a presidential ticket, even as VP, he has serious flaws:
1. I don't trust his ability as an executive, based on his stint as mayor of Cleveland (don't confuse that with criticising him for the issues that he stood for as mayor, because I support those)
2. There are some people who already agree with him, and some people who find him inspiring and can be convinced to support him, but those two sets put together are a fairly small percentage, and are dwarfed by the large chunk of people who he very strongly turns off.
3. More generally, he neither has the ability to bring a lot of the public over to him, nor does he seem to have the ability to move where he is to come to them. Lacking both of those, and given the above, he's stuck with minority support and majority disapproval and he has no way to change it. That's not just an election issue; if he were in national office, it would severly limit his ability to accomplish anything.

[mdmc]

30. so far away

we still have plenty of time. Welcome to du ... peace and low stress...

[Rose Siding]

7. Write him.

I will too.

On my own accord, I wrote asking that he support Howard Dean a couple of months before he endorsed him.

Maybe it didn't make a spit of difference but I doubt that it hurt.

Honorable Al Gore
2100 West End Avenue
Suite 620
Nashville, TN 37203

[ourbluenation]

9. how about an organized letter writing campaign...

[bowens43]

11. Gore couldn't beat bush. That says it all.

He lost what should have been an easy win. How could you expect him to win against a candidate who is more then a cartoon caricature?
Gore had his chance and he blew it.

[NYCGirl]

12. He won by half a million votes. NT

[mdmc]

17. well, time heals all wounds

I think Gore should run ONLY if he can take Tennessee.

[derby378]

27. DING! DING! DING!

Absolutely correct. "Losing" Florida didn't kill Gore in 2000. Losing Tennessee, however, did.

[jmowreader]

13. We don't. The Repukes already know how to beat him.

In fact, I don't want to run a senator at all, because it's too easy to make the "flip-flop" bullshit charges. "He was for Operation Iraqi Freedom/tax cuts/presidential blowjobs before he was against it."

They got these guys over there whose only job is to pick apart senators' voting records so they can exploit insignificant deviances from the party line.

No senators. This means no Gore. No Hillary. No Schumer, Feingold, Kerry, any of 'em. What we need is a Democratic governor from a reasonably-populated Northern state.

It's got to be a governor because senators don't act independently. A governor can stand there and say "I did this, I did that and I did the other thing." A senator can only say "I helped" or "I spearheaded." In reality a governor helps and spearheads, but at the end of the day, whose name is on the approval line for that law? The governor's.

And it's got to be one from a northern state because Southern Democrats act like Northern Republicans. Look at our hero Bill Clinton. Good president. Good governor. But also a man many called "the best Republican president in our nation's history." That's not good enough anymore. We need an actual Democrat.

And we need someone who will fight through a disputed election until the truth comes out. Did Gore? No. Gore's people could have shut down the Brooks Brothers Riot...but they didn't. Kerry folded the next day. If Gore's people would have countered the BBR until the votes had been properly counted in Florida, we could hold these fun political discussions at Windows On The World. If Kerry's people would have stuffed their candidate in a wall locker until they'd exploited the vote-count irregularities in Ohio, we wouldn't be wondering what happens after Bush nukes Iran.

Add it all up and I believe you'll agree with me that the only person we can possibly support for president of the United States is Christine Gregoire, governor of Washington State.

Screw this "which Senator are we going to serve up to the Republicans next?" crap. Let's get Christine Gregoire at the head of the ticket and win this fucking thing.

[mdmc]

18. Who is Christine Gregoire?

Gore was also veep. Veep has cache'. Hillary Clinton was first lady. Both of these people are bigger then the role of Senator.

[jmowreader]

29. Christine Gregoire's the Dem who stared down Dino Rossi in 2004

You remember the Washington governor's race? Election night returns showed Dino Rossi (who was a one-term Washington state senator) winning the governor's mansion by a hair-thin 261-vote majority over Christine Gregoire (who was Attorney General of Washington for three terms). The Gregoire camp smelled vote irregularities and went after Rossi hard.

By the time it was all over, Gregoire had taken the governor's mansion by an even thinner 129-vote majority. Washington, at the time, had a Repuke secretary of state. It took weeks to sort out this election.

Since taking office, she's managed to balance the Washington state budget without putting the burden on the middle class like Republicans are wont to do.

Just the way she deals with Repug election irregularities is enough to interest me in her.

Gore had his chance and he fucked it up--running away from Bill Clinton, not acting fast enough on the swiftboating he received, generally being as boring as whaleshit. Hillary is a good Senator, so I want her to remain in the Senate. We gotta have an effective governor from a good-size state in the North. Two names come to mind: Jennifer Granholm from Michigan and Christine Gregoire from Washington. Scratch Granholm; she was born in Canada and is therefore ineligible to be president. This means we have Gregoire, who will do well.

[mdmc]

33. It is very cool that she fought for her election in WA

:mad: at dems for Florida and Ohio. :mad: If she can get the nomination, then I will vote for her. As a Nader voter in 96 and 2000, I find most Dems to be rat worm watered down GOP lite candidates. I would love to see more progressive dems win office, but I will be voting lock step with the Dems in 2008. If Zell Miller wins the Dem nomination in 2008, he will have my vote.

[Cos]

26. Senators

Christine Gregoire isn't going to run in 2008, so forget it. Also, she won with a razor-thin margin, so she hasn't firmly established Governorship as a basis for a presidential run yet. She needs to succeed, win reelection solidly, and then she'll have that base.

I normally very much agree that governors are the best candidates, and I was casting about for a governor to support for 2008 as soon as we lost 2004. After a year of searching and thinking, I decided this time the best candidate is actually a Senator: Russ Feingold.

There are many reasons why governors are better candidates, but none of them are universal. Occassionally, a senator is a great candidate, it just happens far less often. McCain was a great candidate for the Republicans in 2000, they just didn't want him. If they'd wanted him, I suspect he would've outperformed Bush, yet he was only a senator.

Some of the reasons Feingold is a good candidate are that he neutralizes several of the key flaws of running as a senator. He is considered a leader on several issues, and he's made a name for himself on them. Start telling people that he's the Feingold in McCain-Feingold, and that'll hit home. His lone vote against the Patriot Act is another great "brand builder" - especially since it's obvious he wasn't doing it out of presidential ambition at the time. He's defined himself, and he's good at defining himself, better than opponents can. Have you seen him in debates or speeches or TV interviews? Feingold both is a leader and can present himself convincingly as a leader.

One thing is for sure: Russ Feingold would be a heck of a stronger candidate than Christine Gregoire (but since she's not running, it doesn't matter).

[mdmc]

14. Paging Doctor Dean. Doctor Dean to the smokey back room please

We need to work on 2006. Once we get our party legs under us, Gore will fall into place.

[Nictuku]

15. I agree

And if Gore is smart, he will not announce until much later in the game. Less time for them to swift-boat him.

[mdmc]

19. I think that he will be the non campaigner

If a populist movement pulls him into the campaign, a crowed campaign field parts, stands down, and rallies behind him, he will blow away any GOP candidate, even McCain / Powell (I think that this is the strongest GOP ticket).

[Yupster]

36. My guess

He announces the day after Hillary announces she's not running.

I don't think Gore can run if Hillary does.

The reason is that Bill knows everything Gore did for eight years and can blow up his campaign any time he felt like it -- and he would feel like it.

[dysfunctional press]

22. why would anyone back a proven loser- when russ feingold is available?

go figure...

[ourbluenation]

23. Loser? He won the popular vote despite voter shenanigans on the right.

[dysfunctional press]

31. Loser. the "winner" is the one who gets the white house.

if the person who would-be president doesn't have the cahones/brains to claim/protect his victory- then it's NOT a victory.

[ourbluenation]

32. I loved him the first time, despite his "wooden" demeanor.

But he's changed since then and for the better. He's found his voice. Give him another chance Question...he's got nuthin to lose and I think that would scare the bejesus out of the gop and warm the cockles of the hearts of many a disenchanted.

[otohara]

35. So Uninformed

go figure

[davidthegnome]

24. Well...

If honest Al runs in 2008, he's got my vote. He also has my whole family and most of my friends behind him. Gore/Clinton, or even Clinton/Gore would be an excellent team. Further - I foresee a MASSIVE, earth-shaking victory in 2006.

[Seabiscuit]

28. I dream of a Gore/Feingold ticket.

Meanwhile, time has wounded all (Repub) heels.

[lonestarnot]

34. Oh my gosh that sounds like a piece of heaven!