Posted on 05/19/2007 8:41:07 PM PDT by LdSentinal
Al Gore has given his strongest indication to date that he is contemplating a new run for the White House.
The former vice-president, who received more votes nationwide than George W Bush in the 2000 election, pointedly refused to rule himself out and said that circumstances could emerge that would make him challenge Senator Hillary Clinton for the Democrat nomination.
Mr Gore, who won an Oscar earlier this year for his climate change film An Inconvenient Truth, told the New York Times Magazine that he would be a better candidate than he was seven years ago.
He said he would not echo the 19th-century general William Sherman, who ruled out a White House run. "I'm not issuing a Shermanesque statement because that's not where I am. I'm not ruling it out for all time. Although I cannot presently foresee any circumstances, such circumstances could emerge."
He added that it was "not impossible" that those circumstances could arise this year. Observers believe he may run if polls suggest Sen Clinton looks set to be the Democrat candidate but would be unlikely to win the election.
He gave a clear signal that he could join the contest later this year by objecting to the idea that the presidential campaign now under way must last for two years.
"Having spent 30 years as part of the political dialogue, I don't know why a 600-day campaign is taken as a given." He criticised those who "want to close the door and narrow the field and say, 'This is it, now let's place your bets'. If they want to do that, fine. I don't have to play that game."
Vice-President Gore, whose more relaxed style and advocacy of green issues have won him new fans, said that if he had had the "presentation skills" he had learned while arguing for global warming issues, "I think I'd be in my second term as president."
Roy Neel, a long-time Gore aide, said that he had "rejected offers to do any sort of planning". But he had not stopped others from planning on his behalf.
As The Sunday Telegraph revealed last month, former aides are privately putting together a shadow campaign team that could manage a new run for the White House.
Mr Gore was preparing to launch his new book this week, The Assault on Reason, seen by many as an attempt to keep his name in the headlines. He will conduct several interviews on television and is the subject of Time magazine's latest cover story, under the headline "The Last Temptation of Al Gore".
Vice-President Gore regularly attracts 15 per cent support in polls of Democrat contenders for the White House, even though he has not launched a campaign.
The best defense is a great offense, spelled FRED THOMPSON.
Gore should run. He’s already got his leftist indoctrination video being mandatory viewing in schools. Nice freebie campaign contribution worth probably hundreds of millions of dollars. For all her power and $, Hillary couldn’t force the public to view a pro-Clinton video. Gore already has it shoved down the throats of millions of kids without rebuttal.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.