I Wonder if Gore is Being Quietly Recruited???

[Starpass]

I know that several months ago there were news stories regarding growing fear inside the Democratic Party that Howard Dean could pull off the nomination. Apparently, the fear was widespread in the US Congress because of those who will be seeking re-election in '04. They viewed Dean as really charging up the small group of people who participate in the primaries but of being absolutely gutted in the general election; and thus, taking a good section of the Dem candidates down with him (hey, these boys know politics or they wouldn't be sitting in DC as we speak). I later saw and heard that the DNC is getting very nervous about even being able to raise campaign money after the primaries (when all the candidates will have blown their wad trying to get the nomination)in order to run a Democratic campaign in '04. They feel the "big boys" will not contribute to Dean's campaign--and you can go only so far against Bush with few buck contributions from those who presently are pushing for his nomination.

Therefore, I wonder if the Gore speech was "deliberate"---not only as a political attempt to bash Bush and further the Dem cause in general; but if it was a plant, so to speak, to see if it could create a groundswell call for Gore to re-enter the race. September will be the big kickoff for the primaries and I wonder if the DNC felt that the party may be in such disarray at this moment that Gore might be able to pull it back together???? Noticed that Gergin (sp.?) last night said that it really would not be appropriate "yet"; but that some time had to be given for the Dems to sort things out among themselves first.

[Hubert Flottz]

1. I think Gore will run!

AL BE BACK!

[mdmc]

29. If we don't change our posistions from 2000

Then why not Gore? Who is a better (more qualified) candidate then Gore? No one!
Only Dean (and Sharpton, to a much smaller extent) has a movement behind him that equals what Gore had in 2000.

If no one breaks away, then why not Gore?

I predict Gephardt, Braun, Edwards, Leiberman, and Graham will back Gore (maybe Kerry, but I think that he is in it for the long haul). That leaves Kucinich, Kerry, Sharpton, and Dean in it vs. a unified Gore Democratic Party.

He would be unpatriotic to refuse to run if Edwards, Gephardt, Graham, Leiberman, Braun, Cuomo, And Hillary all BEG him to reenter.

[Larkspur]

2. What part of "no I'm not joining the other 9 candidates" in Gore's speech

do you not understand. He said that he will eventually endorse one of the 9 later in the political cycle.

I think that Al Gore was trying to find a way to get his message out about Bush and not be ignored by the mainstream media. He called MoveOn.org and asked them to set up the scene. Obviously, he has been watching MoveOn's success and took advantage of their assertiveness to get his message out.

[liberalnurse]

4. Thank you.......

I just don't understand this crazy pipe dreaming for draft Al Gore. He repeated it again yesterday. He ain't running. Pick one of the nine and get in gear....The relationship is over. Al is going to get on with his life.

[nansocal]

23. In that speech

did you hear him say he would not accept a draft ? that's what a draft is about.. until he says he would not accept being drafted, why shouldn't we try ?

[mdmc]

30. what if instead of 9, its 4

Kerry, Kucinich, Dean, and Sharpton. And what if the rest of the candidates (Gephardt, Braun, Edwards, and Graham) endorse Gore? What if Bill Clinton asks everyone to drop out and endorse Gore.

Who better than Gore?

[rabid_nerd]

3. Draft Gore coverage day after speech

http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/08082003/news/43747.htm

[Hubert Flottz]

24. Thanks for the link!

Al can't run away from his draft notice like Bush did because Al IS a patriot!

[ScotTissue]

5. Quietly?

What about an endorsement from Mario Cuomo and a major policy speech at NYU is "quiet?"

[KoKo]

19. I don't think Mario Cuomo has much "clout" in the Dem party anymore. He's

too left for the DLC. I think Mario is as disgusted by what happened in Florida and as angry about some of our wimp Dems like Daschle/Reid that of course he encouraged Al to speak before that audience. Gore probably wanted to anyway.....but at this point he's been so trashed he might have worried that it would hurt Move On. org more to speak before them than if he didn't

If Mario encouraged him in that......then it's to Gore and Move.on's credit that they went forward with the speech.

Al Gore knows that the hateful political climate is worse than even in 1999! He doesn't want to put the party through another mudsling by the Media Whores over his personal characteristics.

No, I think Gore has broken with the DLC and has embraced the Internet Move On. energy. He wants to help "rebuild" the party and is probably as angry as we are over what happened in Florida.....but knows that it will be howled over as "sour grapes" in the media crowd.

His speech was so carefully worded......it was designed so that NO ONE could take issue with it. The Media Whores couldn't distort it and the "anti-war activists, and those still angry about Florida would applaud it and be energized. That speech said "Come out Dem Candidates and go after Bush........."

He isn't going to be a candidate......but he really wants to influence the party.....and that right now is what we need.
My 2 cents, anyway.

[liberalnurse]

6. Have any of the draft Al bunch concidered

entering a 12 Step Program?

[NNN0LHI]

7. No reason to get snide n/t

[liberalnurse]

9. So Sorry....

I just thought a meeting might help.

[mdmc]

31. I voted for Nader in 2000

If the party doesn't change its posistions from 2000, then why not draft Gore?
Who is more qualified than Gore?

I support Dean, but I would back a Gore / Dean ticket.

Our party is dying. If we don't change our politics, then why not run Gore?

[Starpass]

8. STOP--I'm not a Gore backer--I just watch the way politicians work

and this has the "political" smell all over it. If Gore is through with either this presidential campaign or politics in general, then why would he care a fig about making a damn speech. Why would he contact this MoveOn to set things up or whatever. Did Al just miss standing in the glow of tv lights?? Did he want to take a vacation to the college with his wife?? Come on----you who can't see "politics" smeared all over this need to drop the blinders.

[qb]

11. I think he cares about his country

It sounds like he's setting things up for the eventual Democratic nominee. If he did enter the race, I can't imagine how he could withstand the media uproar over his repeated denials.

[NNN0LHI]

13. There are no coincidences in politics. Here is what I posted yesterday

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=146515&mesg_id=146515

Clinton, Gore and others are working on Bush


They are not looking for any kind of knock out punch....yet. The first jab to the body was Clinton getting it out into the open very clearly that Bush made a mistake which has cost many lives on Larry King. Before then it was everyones fault but Bushs. That was the set up for the next jab today to Bushs chin from Gore that Bush has been lying to us and the whole world. A few more body shots here and a few more jabs to the chin there and pretty soon Bush is going to be wobbly. Then someone is going to come in with a hard right for the knock out punch. Should be interesting to watch. That is my take on it anyway.

Don

[mdmc]

32. I like the cut of your jib, Don

:dem:

[KoKo]

26. Did you read my reply Post #19. What do you think?

koko

[ewagner]

10. If I were planning a Gore strategy...

I would let the process play out and hope for a deadlocked convention. At that point, I would send a clear signal that I would be sympathetic to a "draft" in order to unify the party. That's scenario #1.

Scenario #2: If the front-runners stumble and the party looks to be in disarray by, say, mid January, then I would humbly accept a draft even though it would be too late to get my name on any primary ballot anywhere.

Aside from those two scenarios, I don't think Gore could get back in without looking like a waffler....

Interested in hearing your take on this.

[mdmc]

34. I agree with you, ewagner

:dem:

[tjdee]

12. He's making his endorsement soon.

I thought of that briefly yesterday, but I don't know that he would have inserted that line about not being a candidate--if he came back in, that much harder to get over the 'you said you weren't, same old Gore 'lying'' thing. He's said it now twice.

I DO think maybe he's getting using his own political capital to bolster that of someone else. When he said "I will be endorsing one of them", that rang a little bell in my head. It's possible that he's being seen again, revving it up the slightest bit, so when he says "I endorse X", people will take that seriously.

I could be wrong, though, LOL. He could have meant 'I'm endorsing the nominee'. Hmm.

[Bertrand]

14. He will probably wait till Joe pulls out

and seeing that he is falling out of Iowa and NH, and with the pending pitfall of the south, it will hopefully be soon.

[GainesT1958]

15. I'm convinced, even though he said he "wouldn't be joining them"...

That Al was, indeed, testing the waters, and will be doing so in future speeches. He may not want to run "now"; he doesn't need to. He may decide that his choice in December was the right one and endorse the candidate he feels most closely reflects his views, or, he may realize that he, and only he, can unify the Party in a way that would mount an effective challenge to Dub next year. He has the luxury of time, familiarity, and drawing power--i.e. no problem raising money, and I mean big bucks, no matter how late he got in. And, obviously, he has the support of some big names--like Mario Cuomo--who would like very much to see him enter the race.

When my wife and I saw the replay of his moveon.org speech last night on C-SPAN, it was obvious, and almost painfully so: no other candidate currently in the Democratic field could even touch Al Gore in strength of message, the verve in conveying that message, and in the experience he has to back up that message. It's almost like liining up the announced candidates with Al on the practice tee--they hit the balls from the bucket with the varying consistency of highly-ranked amateurs; Al hits them like Tiger Woods.

Whatever Al Gore decides, I'll be ready. If he choses not to run, I'll pick the candidate who is the best fit for me, but if he changes his mind, I'll be there. :D

B-)

[mdmc]

36. well said, GainesT1958

:dem:

[Booberdawg]

16. He's not entering the race.

It's not a trick. He's a party leader and gave a speech. It's over - Gore is not running.

[mark0rama]

21. He can't run...

If the media pounced on him for dubious lies he didn't really tell, like "I invented the Internet," there would be no end to the grief they'd give him for entering the race after he's said more than once that he won't.

[Starpass]

17. Let me throw this around as a P.S. to my own post

There was that "will endorse" someone part of the speech---and it seemed he was zeroing in on someone (not, I'll decide who later). The other possibility that crossed my mind is that this is ground preparation for a certain candidate who needs a boost right now and is set to really kick off his campaign in late September---John Kerry. My bet is that the person Gore will support is Kerry. It may be big John and the DNC (who want Kerry) are beginning the "lead up" to the kickoff.

[Larkspur]

22. Kerry, the man who dissed Gore?

And voted for the war resolution after Gore gave that brilliant Sep 23, 2002 speech.

Personally, I think Gore has not chosen a candidate to endorse at this time. He will let the primary process sort itself out like it should and then he will put his full weight behind the candidate who is the clear winner.

Howard Dean has got the momentum, the smart campaign strategy, and OPPOSED the Iraq war based on similar grounds that Al Gore made clear last year. Kerry is flailing or stagnating at best. He put himself in a Catch-22 over voting for that war resolution, which was based upon fraudulent data. Howard Dean was not fooled by Bush, but Kerry was, so why would Al Gore support John Kerry?

[mdmc]

37. Gore supported the war

front and center.
He backed Bushes moves as if they were his own.

[ScreamingMeemie]

38. He did? Where's your evidence? This is what I found...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002-09-23-gore_x.htm

snip>

Updated 9/24/2002 3:56 AM

Gore blasts Bush on Iraq war
By Susan Page and Richard Benedetto, USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO — Former vice president Al Gore on Monday outlined a sweeping indictment of President Bush's threatened attack on Iraq, calling it a distraction from the war on terrorism that has "squandered" international support for the United States.

<snip


snip>

Gore, who lost the 2000 election to Bush, took a tougher stance toward the White House on Iraq than other leading Democrats, who have been leery of challenging the president. Congress is expected to vote in short order on a resolution authorizing action.

<snip

That's a kind of funny way to support the president, don't you think?

[ScreamingMeemie]

35. He is going to endorse somebody who voted for the war that he spoke

out against yesterday??? I don't think so. I think he set that up so when he endorses one of the more hardhitting anti war candidates it'll make sense.

[welshTerrier2]

18. please help me, i can't find a candidate ...

i have struggled for some time now trying to find the best candidate for me to support. it was easy for me to narrow the field because i will not support any of the Iraq war supporters. also, i'm concerned that bob graham is something of a hawk as well.

so that leaves me with Mosley Braun, Sharpton, Kucinich and Dean ... and anyone else who jumps in ...

i really like Mosley Braun and Sharpton ... i could support either one of them ... Sharpton's way of telling it like it is usually cuts right to the heart of the matter ... but, neither of these two candidates is viable ... at least not this year ... could i still support one of these candidates if i don't think they can win ?? i suppose ... it's just not clear to me what the point of doing that would be ...

so, then, i continue to narrow down to Dean and Kucinich ... frankly, i was a very early Dean supporter ... more recently, i've found myself migrating towards Kucinich ... issue by issue, Dennis is the man ... his call for scrapping the WTO and NAFTA is just what I think we need to do ... he wants to replace these abusive mechanisms with bi-lateral trade negotiations ... i agree ... the concern with Dennis, though, is that we're midway thru the "pre-primary" season and his candidacy really has not caught fire ... i'm with him on the issues but i don't think he has the stature, yet, to play on the national stage ...

and I can't quite seem to get comfortable with Dean ... i stopped supporting him when he waivered (before the war started) on his war position ... and I've seen him "adjust" his statements from one interview to the next on other occasions ... i watched his speech in Iowa last night on C-Span where he misrepresented what Kucinich had alleged about Dean's statements on raising the retirement age ... no need for all you Dean supporters to come to his defense ... don't get me wrong ... there is much to like about Dean ... i could easily support him ... but i have an uneasy feeling with him as a candidate ...

so, where the hell does this leave me ... i haven't been one of those "Gore nuts" (who needs a 12-step program) ... i voted for Al in 2000 ... do i understand why he decided to get out of the race ??? let me answer this way: No !!! what the hell was he thinking ?? you don't just walk off the field in the middle of the game !! I listened to his speech to MoveOn yesterday ... talk about getting to the heart of the matter ... Gore has the experience, the intelligence, the insight and the gravitas to take us where we all hope to get to ... his entry into the race at this time would bring greater focus to all the candidates ... and more regular media coverage ... i don't know whether Gore would automatically win the nomination if he jumped in now ... but i do know that it would be the best thing for the party if he threw his hat in the ring ...

[KG]

20. it's true! didn't you see the way al was blinking his eyes?

he was sending a message in morse code!

H-E-L-P-M-Y-C-A-N-D-I-D-A-C-Y-I-S-B-E-I-N-G-H-E-L-D-H-O-S-T-A-G-E-B-Y-F-R-O-M-A-N-D-M-C-A-U-L-I-F-F-H-E-L-P

:)

[ScreamingMeemie]

25. Here is my thought (after staying up way too late to watch the retelecast)

Gore came out pretty strongly against Bush. A couple of candidates have come out really strongly against Bush. A lot of people respect and admire Al Gore. I watched this speech wishing he could have spoken like this 4 years ago. It is my opinion that Gore is paving the way to an endorsement of one of the stronger voiced candidates. Again, this is just my opinion, and I'm not even going to name who I think that candidate will be.

[KoKo]

27. Agree, Mrs. Grumpy.

That's what it is.

[Adjoran]

28. I'm not a mind-reader

so I don't know what Gore was thinking.

I do know a lot of the big fundraisers that supported him and Clinton before him haven't jumped in to join any of the current candidates.

I do know that many people in the Party still think he would be the best candidate.

I do know that he is one of two people (HRC being the other) who could unite and excite the party and lead the 2004 campaign with momentum.

I do know that he can beat Bush. I can't say that (at least not yet) about any of the others.

[Terwilliger]

33. Recruited to stay out of the race?

That's what he keeps saying.

[RedEagle]

39. Could it be that Gore is just tired of the Dem status quo...

...and is taking his position as the wise sage of the party:

THIS is how you attack Bush!

THIS is how you speak up!

THIS is the message you have to get across!

THIS is what you have to do to win!

I think maybe Gore is sick and tired of the whole Democratic image. He can be a leader without the title. I think he showed them how it's done and what they have to do, right down to the most junior representative in the House.

These guys don't know how to fight the Democratic way. They've only seen the attack/obfuscate tactics of the opposition. Gore just showed them how.

Let's hope a few of them got the lesson.