July 22, 2015

"It’s time to draft Al Gore: If Democrats want to win, it’s clear neither Hillary nor Sanders is the way."

A bit of amusement from Salon.
[Gore is] the one person on the left, apart from Clinton and Biden, with the cachet to bridge the establishment and progressive wings of the party...

1. Stature. Gore is a superstar with impeccable qualifications...
A full list of 4 points is available at the link. 

97 comments:

Bad Lieutenant said...

Yes, please, run the sex poodle!

Birkel said...

It would be entertaining to read how the defender of the little guy has made tens of millions, and likely hundreds of millions, defending the less fortunate. Funny that when the less fortunate defend themselves, they never get so rich as that.

Bay Area Guy said...

If i may paraphrase from Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now: I love the smell of Democratic panic in the morning - it smells like victory.

Birkel said...

Those financial disclosure statements would be a hoot. The Koch Brohers, evil be upon them, would blush at his unbridled capitalist swagger.

Drago said...

Is it time yet to say "he is tanned, rested and ready"?

Gahrie said...

Oh C'mon...the democrats aren't that evil.

tim in vermont said...

It is amazing that the oldest political party in the oldest democracy in the world can only come up with Hillary, selected by Hillionaires, I mean billionaires, and the whole party falls in line.

Crimso said...

Wonder how he's polling in Florida.

Henry said...

A look at that picture at the link tells the whole story. The left disdains Hillary Clinton, so they pull a picture that makes her look bitter and haggard. The left despairs for Bernie Sanders so they pull a picture that makes him look like an angry wacko. The left pines for Al Gore, yet they cannot find a picture that makes him look good. Vote for the squinty reptile! He's a superstar!

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

He's probably the Democrat's best hope for a happy ending.

Michael K said...

I'm all for it. Gore is the future of the Democrat Party. All global warming all theme until the glaciers shut off the TV reception.

Michael K said...

"all the time..."

Sebastian said...

Yes, Prog despair is amusing.

Even the tiniest chance that any of those repulsive creatures could rule us, not so much.

Skeptical Voter said...

Calling Al Gore an unhinged blustering buffoon like Donald Trump is unfair to Trump.

Clayton Hennesey said...

If Democrats want to run what looks like a Virginia ham with goblin eyes as their presidential candidate, that's certainly their prerogative, but I'm trying to remember which Democrats who have announced for the Presidency other than Hillary and Sanders might have both legislative branch and executive branch experience, particularly military experience, and who haven't already put themselves up on the national scoreboard as a loser. I'm sorry, the name's escaping me, and obviously escaping others as well.

Etienne said...

I watched Al Gore eat soup at a fundraiser. I'm not kidding, watch this man eat soup. You will never think of him as Presidential again.

OK, hint, he's everything you advise your children against doing while seated at the supper table. Brrrr, it still creeps me out. I can't imagine why Tipper left him.

Which brings up the point, that since his wife left, there is no way he could get elected. Maybe if he found a queer lover, but I don't even think queers tolerate those table manners.

Chris403 said...

Biden seems like the obvious savior at this point. Bernie's appeal is limited, O'Malley and "white lives don't matter" would be a disaster, and Hillary is simply not a good candidate.

Am I wrong to prefer Biden to Algore?

walter said...

"As Ezra Klein argued a few months ago in a column about Gore, “Income inequality is a serious problem…But climate change is an existential threat.” Gore, whatever you think of him, is an unimpeachable authority on climate change."

The science is saddled!

PB said...

Yes, please. Let him explain how he managed to start a TV channel, gain cable network access based on high minded ideals and then rapidly sell out to Al Jazeera.

Donald Trump may be ego-mad, blustering, and unfiltered, but Al Gore is all that plus that nasty anger management problem.

tim in vermont said...

Can't they draft Ed Begley Jr?

Brando said...

On the one hand, it's nice that some Democrats realize what a mess Hillary would be (both as a candidate and as a president if she somehow wins). On the other hand, Gore? The man just added baggage since 2000, and he was a lousy politician then. That's like the Republicans trying to run Dan Quayle. Give it up.

I think Biden is an underrated quantity among the Democrats--he's got an image as a folksy, foot in his mouth guy, but I could see him holding his party together. He might have a better shot than Hillary.

Henry said...

Chris403 wrote: Am I wrong to prefer Biden to Algore?

No. I'd take Harding over Wilson too.

Henry said...

Brando wrote: I think Biden is an underrated quantity among the Democrats--he's got an image as a folksy, foot in his mouth guy, but I could see him holding his party together. He might have a better shot than Hillary.

I agree. I attended a speech of his years ago, the first time he ran for President and scuttled himself, and he was actually fairly impressive both in his speech and the Q&A. He has the faults of the glib. He can talk well until he talks too much.

Phil 314 said...

Free the chakra!

Mark said...

Once upon a time Salon wasn't a joke.

bgates said...

Biden seems like the obvious savior at this point.

A sentiment previously uttered only by Joe Biden, pretending to be a news anchor while sitting in a bathtub playing "Joe Biden Saves the Earth from Global Warming Sea Rises".

David said...

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...
He's probably the Democrat's best hope for a happy ending.


Pretty subtle but funny. Well done.

MathMom said...

Al Gore and Joey Biden are both clinically insane. So there's that.

MAJMike said...

Elect Gore and release his Second Chakra!

Beldar said...

Empty bench.

Beldar said...

A young, white 20-something was telling me the other day how enthusiastic he is about Bernie Sanders.

I said, "Does the name George McGovern mean anything to you?"

He said, "No, should it?"

I said, "Look it up and get back to me."

Scott M said...

Wonder how he's polling in Florida.

Probably not well enough to release his second chakra.

Fernandinande said...

Owl Gore's qualifications are quite peccable.

MisterBuddwing said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ron Winkleheimer said...

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha ..... Oh, you were serious! Excuse me while I laugh some more. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!

MisterBuddwing said...

::shrug:: He did win the popular vote in 2000...

Michael K said...

I saw a Prius on the freeway this week with a "Warren for President" bumper sticker. Somebody is printing them. I still think Kerry has hopes.

jacksonjay said...

If global warming climate change rising sea levels is your thing, draft Bow Tie Nye! I hear nerds are the rage. Or better yet, quote fabricator, Snake-in-deGrasse Tyson. He's a twofer, Black Nerd!

damikesc said...

BWA HA HA!

Al Gore?

Mr Environmental Guru who made millions from oil sheiks?

Mr Lecture us on waste while having a "carbon footprint" exponentially larger than most anybody else's?

Him?

I bet his attempted rape of that masseuse would be a hoot to relive.

Scott said...

Realistically, I think Clinton is a stronger candidate than Gore, if only because Gore has run his ignorant mouth about everything under the sun. Gore's opposition has an incredible amount of material to ridicule him with.

Silent Hillary Clinton, by contrast, can't be pinned to any position. She's like Obama; the generic identity, the public sock puppet for your own aspirations.

Curious George said...

Stature? Probably a typo. They meant statue.

ddh said...

How about a boomlet for Michael Dukakis? He's tanned, rested, and ready, and teaches at the Kennedy School at Harvard. At 81, he's only a tad older than the other contenders, but he's strong on defense (no one rides a tank like Michael). Let's make this campaign about competence and the Massachusetts miracle!

Bay Area Guy said...

Hillary is taking her lumps early - she's the only real Dem candidate and, hence, is an easy direct target.

The 16 GOP candidates, many of whom are pretty good, may be subject to the "Clown Car" charge, but this hurts the GOP brand, more than it hurts any individual candidate.

Gore won't run - so efforts to draft him smack of desperation. The more, the merrier.

Big Mike said...

The Democrats actually have more than one wing? That's not what it looks like to anyone else. For years the smug talking faces in the political pundit class lectured the Republicans that they "can't fly with only one wing." Now the Democrats are proposing to try to fly with only the most extreme tip of a single wing. How can that work?

Rusty said...

And I thought all those republicans were turning this election into a farce. And then along comes the manbearpig.
HBO couldn't make a series this good.

lgv said...

Someone could easily fisk most of Salon's points. It would be fun and easy, but I don't have the time.

"Gore, whatever you think of him, is an unimpeachable authority on climate change. "

"He’s even succeed wildly in the private sector as a businessman" - Thanks to Al Jazeera

"Hillary Clinton is right about a lot of things, but foreign policy isn’t one of them. "

Birches said...

Let's just start calling it the Sexual Assault Party! I guess the Left has short memories...

Roughcoat said...

Aristophanes would have had a field day with this election cycle.

traditionalguy said...

He could run Pope Francis as his Vice President. That would coroner the market on Environmental Cults running Nation States, or is that a Provinces of The World Wide Church?
John Roberts and friends could cooperate and discover another new reading of the First Amendment that says the Congress shall make no law not respecting the World Wide Church Governance Treaty.

Wilbur said...

Over 40 comments, and not a mention of Elizabeth Warren.

I confess I did not go to the Salon article, so if the piece played a role in this Warren-free zone, mea culpa.

MadisonMan said...

Warren is not mentioned in the salon article. Maybe she is in the comments. (Cursory read). Nope, not there either.

Gore as a Candidate? Reminds me of Barrett for Governor here. No real urge to run, just running because he's told to? That didn't work well.

Henry said...

p.s. If you don't think the Clintons have dirt on Al Gore, you don't know the Clintons.

Temujin said...

On the downside, all massage therapists would have to go back to High Alert. On the upside, we'd get to see Naomi Wolf return to her side job as a fashion consultant. And, boy- who doesn't want to see AlGore sporting earth tones again?

Matt Sablan said...

Gore should not run. If Jeb Bush wins the nomination, and Gore loses to another Bush, I don't think his ego could take it.

In 15 years, Gore would be sitting in his now dilapidated, spider-web covered campaign center looking at what his mind has taken to calling the Concession Phone Where The Concession Call Will Come In, still wearing his "I'm The President Now Suit," just staring at the phone blankly, sort of like how I imagine Miss Havisham in her wedding dress staring at the cake.

Rae said...

John Edwards, now is your chance!

William said...

As the years have passed, Gore has increased in gravitas. He will bring the same striking presence to his role as candidate as Marlon Brando did to his later film roles.

Bricap said...

No. Just no. I think the Dems lose this cycle, regardless.

PB said...

If Gore ran and won, would he bring Tipper back or would the masseuse of the week fill in as first lady?

Matt Sablan said...

So, when is the deadline for Democrats to toss their hats in the ring?

Anonymous said...

You know Hillary Clinton is a terrible candidate when they think they can do better with Al Gore.

Al Gore.

That's like Republicans begging for Bob Dole to come back.

SteveR said...

I expect Hillary will get all these progressive votes in the end. They won't Ralph Nader the party again. They hate republicans more than anything else.

Unknown said...

"cachet"...LOL

Brando said...

When you're reaching for Gore, you're desperate. The fact that Biden hasn't jumped in yet suggests maybe he isn't planning on running? After all, you really need to be rasiing serious cash by now if you want to hit the primaries next year.

What I wonder is why we haven't heard about drafting Cory Booker.

Bricap said...

Biden would get drafted before Gore, but then that would be boring punditry to write an article about it. He also already said Hillary is smarter than he is. Probably not what a potential candidate would want to admit if there was any thought of a future run and she's still in the picture.

ken in tx said...

The Koch Bros need to make sure that Al Gore, Bernie Sanders, the Green Party, and the Working Families Party are on the ballot in every state. That's to counter-balance Trump's false flag efforts.

damikesc said...

Silent Hillary Clinton, by contrast, can't be pinned to any position. She's like Obama; the generic identity, the public sock puppet for your own aspirations.

Only problem is that if nobody knows your opinion on anything after 23 years in the public eye, it indicates that you have no actual beliefs.

Ron Winkleheimer said...



NSFW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umj0gu5nEGss

Mike Sylwester said...

The movement to draft Al Gore is being managed secretly by Bill Clinton.

Wilbur said...

Love the Miss Havisham reference.

I Callahan said...

He did win the popular vote in 2000

And the country only got more stupid since then. He has as good a shot as anyone...

cubanbob said...

I must have a reading comprehension problem. I read the Salon piece and cannot tell if it is dead serious or a black comedy.

John henry said...

Clayton Hennesey,

Perhaps you were trying to think of Gore as a Dem with Executive Branch experience. If so, you would be wrong, at least on the federal level.

Gore was Vice President. The Constitutional functions of the VP are clearly legislative, President of the Senate, and the VP is clearly part of the legislative, not the executive, branch.

The VP does not, Constitutionally, work for the president and the president has no constitutional authority whatsoever over the VP.

O'Malley does have executive branch experience, though at the state level. Perhaps he is the one you are thinking of?

John Henry

Kevin said...

Who better as President than the "crazed sex poodle"?

John henry said...

First election I remember was 1960 Nixon vs JFK. I remember then how people said that being VP is a great qualification for being president.

Since then we have had several VPs make it to the big desk. LBJ, Nixon, Ford, Bush 1.

Earlier we had Truman, Coolidge, Roosevelt.

None of them could get re-elected except Nixon and we remember what happened to him. Coolidge probably could have gotten re-elected but chose not to run.

Other than Coolidge, I think most of these folks were rated poorly during their time in office.

Then we have Gore, Mondale, Humphry, Nixon(60), some others who tried to run as VPs. Bush is the only sitting VP to get elected since the early 19th century.

Could someone explain to me how Biden's service as VP positions him for the presidency?

Or Gore's service as VP positions him?

there are big-time reasons why neither should be candidate and why they would make horrible presidents. Even if there weren't, serving as VP seems to be a disqualification for president given 100+ years of experience.

To paraphrase Samuel Johnson: "The nomination of a VP as a presidential candidate represents the triumph over experience."

John Henry

Lewis Wetzel said...

In the 2000 election we saw the new Gore.
He virtually abandoned centrism. Clinton picked Gore for the veep slot in '92 because Gore was a moderate who had voted for the 1st Iraq War. All gone in 2000 because he was running against another centrist (yes, GW Bush was centrist).
The election 2000 saw Gore lose to Bush in the initial and subsequent vote counts. He tried to game the system and make up for his loss by proposing alternate counts. He was assisted by the corrupt Florida SC (liberals don't seem to want to talk about the Florida SC, largely appointed by a disgraced democrat, deciding the 2000 election. But that is what they wanted to happen).
The results did not change and could not change. Given his initial lead in the Florida vote tally, the partisan FL SC, and the FL SC's poor understanding of election law, it was inevitable that W win the presidency. Gore probably knew that he would never be president (he called to retract his concession), I imagine that he was pushed into the fight by Dem partisans and donors who didn't give a f*ck about the country. Their power and money was on the line.

chuck said...

That was an interesting picture montage at the link. I would have chosen a different image for Gore on the theory that three losers are better than two.

Wilbur said...

Calvin Coolidge ran and won on his own in 1924.

America's greatest president, Silent Cal.

cf said...

What is a nation of in-crowders supposed to do?

I believe this is part of the plot by our puppet-masters so that we will all throw up our hands and agree that we must give Barack Obama a third term, and ultimately, of course, be President for Life.

There is no one else but The One.

Sam L. said...

Hahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahhahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahaha,

I'm dyin' here.

mikee said...

Superstar, like that skit from Saturday Night Live, where the Catholic School girl ends up falling down, knocking over all the tables, and finishes the skit by raising her arms over her head recognizing some internal victory?

Clayton Hennesey said...

Perhaps you were trying to think of Gore as a Dem with Executive Branch experience. If so, you would be wrong, at least on the federal level.

No, I was thinking of Jim Webb. As I mentioned, no one else seems to be, though.

Brando said...

"Could someone explain to me how Biden's service as VP positions him for the presidency?

Or Gore's service as VP positions him?"

Practically speaking, it doesn't--a VP can argue that they sat in on cabinet meetings and advised the president, but as an official position you're better off as White House pet. And being "second fiddle" in some ways hurts you--you can't criticize your boss, and can't seem your "own man" so you're sort of a beta male. That's why some of the most dominant VPs (Jefferson, Teddy R) chafed under the thumb of their presidents.

But it does mean lots of name recognition and fundraising ability within the party, more important these days than in the past (which is why VPs have a leg up on their party's nomination more than in the past). When the incumbent who they're serving under is popular, they have a leg up in the general election too (George Bush Sr. and Gore both benefitted from this).

The minute Gore grew that beard and got fat it was pretty clear he wasn't going to run for anything. I don't know why anyone would even bring him up, except to seem idiosyncratic.

Original Mike said...

Al "Digital Brownshirts" Gore? A capital idea.

LarryK said...

Why not Mondale, isn't he still alive? On second thought, why is that even a concern, since the dead have been voting Democratic for years - it's time for the party to run a real stiff.

All the way with LBJ! Although he may face a populist challenge from the left by Every Man a King Huey Long. And if the Democrats want to regain their lock on the southern vote, there's always John Calhoun, although he feels strongly about keeping the Confederate flag flying in SC.

Dr Weevil said...

I don't know whether Mondale is still alive, and don't care enough to look, but I'm pretty sure Jimmy Carter is. Why not run him? That wouldn't be much more ridiculous than running Gore or Biden, would it?

kcom said...

I said, "Look it up and get back to me."

Get back to us if he gets back to you.

RecChief said...

are you absolutely certain it's amusement on the part of Salon? I read some stuff there, and it is by no means impossible that they are serious

Chris N said...

Release the Goracle into the ring with the Donald.

+ Tag-team- Bill and Hillary take on Bernie Sanders and Fidel Castro.

+ T-Paw, Kasich, Reagan's ghost, and 6 generations of Bushes enter the Thunderdome.

There can be only one.

Michael K said...

"America's greatest president, Silent Cal."

I'll drink to that. He was worried about the stock market in 1928-29 and got his family out of the market. When asked what he would suggest, he replied that the NYSE was really the business of the governor of New York and he could not comment. Guess who that governor was ? Franklin D Roosevelt.

If only his son had not died of sepsis from a blister on his toe, Cal might have agreed to another term. He would, at least, have been better than Hoover who was a Progressive.

walter said...

Gore has no vagina..that we know of.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Two men enter. One man leaves.
Thunderdem.

Drago said...

The dems got a potential candidate who is big as a whale,
and he's ready to set sail!

So don't forget to bring your budhist & islamist money!

Saint Croix said...

Man, that photograph of Gore...

He's like the anti-Santa.

Robert Cook said...

"...was running against another centrist (yes, GW Bush was centrist)."

I don't find that inconceivable, (I don't think it's clear Bush even has any real political convictions), but, even if true, it's beside the point: the people behind Bush, the people pushing the agenda, (e.g., Cheney, Wolfowitz, Feith, Perle, Hadley, etc.) were (and are) right-wing lunatics.

Gahrie said...

the people pushing the agenda, (e.g., Cheney, Wolfowitz, Feith, Perle, Hadley, etc.) were (and are) right-wing lunatics.

Coming from you.....

Lewis Wetzel said...

" . . . the people behind Bush, the people pushing the agenda, (e.g., Cheney, Wolfowitz, Feith, Perle, Hadley, etc.) were (and are) right-wing lunatics."
It's not the Czar, it's his ministers!

Robert Cook said...

"It's not the Czar, it's his ministers!"

Well, when the Czar is just a salable commodity and his Czars are the ones doing the selling...absolutely!