I don't understand the Al Gore conspiracy theories regarding 2008

[ringmastery]

If Dean gets the nomination and loses, won't Gore get blamed? Gore ran a lackluster campaign in 2000 that should have been a cakewalk. He's now backing the left-leaning candidate and pissing off all the other candidates and their supporters.

I don't think he would have any chance in hell in 2008. He would be a two-time loser and probably run out of the party. Al Gore made some new friends by endorsing Dean, but I think he made many, many more enemies. Hillary would eat him up and spit him out if he ran against her in 2008.

[robsul82]

1. Even more so than that...

I believe Al Gore to be a decent man.

Later.

RJS

[frank frankly]

3. exacto, RJS

you nailed it.

this gore in 2008 is one of the dumbest theories EVER.

[rickin]

4. Al Gore is running in '08

It's pretty obvious. A Dean nomination makes sense to Al Gore on many levels.

If Dean wins the nomination, it would look like Al helped.

The likelihood of Dean winning the general election is minimal given that a robust economy and his support and then non-support of the war will be delineated.

So, when this Mcgovern like nonsense happens, Al will become the big star in the democratic party. The guy who opposes the war, and is kinda of a lefty. He pushes out Hillary, who is running and wins the nomination.

Al Gore once said 'my biggest flaw is that I think too much'. To underestimate him on this one would be foolhardy.

[ringmastery]

5. that doesn't make sense

If Dean loses in a Mcgovern type landslide, won't that prove that running left of center is a political loser for the dems? Why would anyone embrace a left of center Gore over a more moderate Hillary? People will be desperate for a winner after 8 years of thug rule. Gore had his chance and blew it. It's inexcusable the shitty campaign he ran in 2000.

[Julien Sorel]

8. Gore has no way back into the picture right now.

The Clintons control the party machinery to an extent, having expelled the Gore people after the 2000 election. The Clintons have power because they can raise funds up the wazoo, which gives them influence. If Dean gets crushed, he goes back to Vermont and no one has to hear his sawed-off lying runt ass ever again. But that leaves whatever machinery he has left in need of a leader, and Gore would be a potential choice there. Gore could not beat Hillary in a head-to-head matchup for control over the party's centrists, but he might be able to co-opt the remnants of Dean's people after a Dean defeat, and challenge her with it.

Is this what his calculus was? I can't read minds, but it makes sense. As I continue to say, barring some kind of catastrophe Dean is going to get crushed, which effectively ends his political career. Gore can see this as well as anyone. If Dean wins, Gore would be out of the picture in 08 anyway. So he has nothing to lose with his endorsement, and at the worst, behind the scenes influence to gain.

I'm not 100% sure Hillary will run in 08 anyway, and Gore can't be sure either. She has lots of negatives, and older women don't do well in politics in this country. If she doesn't run it puts Gore in a strong position again. If she does, he has a shot with the remnants of Dean's people as his power base.

All this is speculation, mind you, but it has far more logic behind it than the usual paranoid theories you see here. Doesn't make it correct, of course, but at least it makes sense from a certain angle.

[frank frankly]

6. hmmmmmmmm

those lefties!!!!
that ROBUST economy!!!!!!!!

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

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[mazzarro]

13. What "...robust economy"?

Woooooaaaaa! Are you refering to the shrub*'s up-and-down but mostly DOWN economy? What Dean does, in his campaign, that I like most of all is his determination not to let shrub* and the rethugs get away with categorizing him without a hardhitting retort.

[Myra]

7. I believe Prez Gore as well. If he endorses someone he believes in them.

Charlie Rangel endorsed General Clark today.
I haven't heard histrionic conspiracy theories about that.
And I haven't heard silly claims that Rep Rangel is trying
to undermine democracy.

[rumguy]

2. Can't you just understand the simple fact that Gore likes Dean and

the way his campaign has been run? Gore is a technophile, he's fascinated with Dean's use of the internet. Gore is at heart a populist, and he sees in Dean's campaign what he wished he had in 2000.

Can't you just see blatant divisive right wing propaganda for what it is? Must you drag that crap into this forum?

Dean is not the "left" candidate. And Gore is not even a one time loser, yet.

[aquart]

10. You're asking a freeper to think instead of regurgitate.

That's just mean.

[frustrated_lefty]

11. I pay attention to conspiracy theories,

they tend to have a grain of truth. The trick is finding the grain.

Perhaps the most convincing meme is that Gore becomes the kingmaker. In doing so he becomes the de facto leader of the DNC and a now defunct DLC. Dean wins and we re-shape the world.

I get confused because I think if Dean wins, we do reshape the world, but it has little to do with the DLC or DNC.

It's not clear, I could toss on a tinfoil hat, but...

that's all secondary to tossing Bush out, for me, at least.

[TreasonousBastard]

12. I sort of agree...

along with some of the other comments about this.

Just take the simplest explanation-- Gore wants to stay in politics somehow. Running this year is out, but there are a lot of options in the future, not the least of which is being a major player in the background.

The clearest way for him to continue to have some influence is to back someone in this election. Clinton already has Clark, and there's bad blood there, so that leaves Kerry and Dean as frontrunners to back.

Why he chose Dean I don't know. Maybe he wants to work with Dean to take over the centrist wing of the party from the Clinton clan. Maybe he sees Dean as the winner in the general election. Maybe... Well, who knows. I do know that the Dean people have been after him for an endorsement for months, and now they got it.

Anyway, I don't see anything more conspiratorial than him or any other politician wanting to exert and expand his influence.

That's what politicians do.