Posted on 03/29/2008 6:46:11 PM PDT by blam
Senior Democrats mull Al Gore's nomination
By Tim Shipman in Washington
Last Updated: 2:23am BST 30/03/2008
Plans for Al Gore to take the Democratic presidential nomination as the saviour of a bitterly divided party are being actively discussed by senior figures and aides to the former vice-president.
The bloody civil war between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has left many Democrats convinced that neither can deliver a knockout blow to the other and that both have been so damaged that they risk losing November's election to the Republican nominee, John McCain.
Former aides to Al Gore now believe he could emerge as a compromise candidate
Former Gore aides now believe he could emerge as a compromise candidate acceptable to both camps at the party's convention in Denver during the last week of August.
Two former Gore campaign officials have told The Sunday Telegraph that a scenario first mapped out by members of Mr Gore's inner circle last May now has a sporting chance of coming true.
Mr Gore, who was Bill Clinton's vice-president and has since won a Nobel Peace Prize and an Oscar for his work on green issues, remains an influential figure eight years after he beat George W Bush in the popular vote but lost the White House after the Florida recount fiasco.
The opening has emerged because opinion polls show Mr McCain stretching his lead over both Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton, whose campaigns are engaged in a daily cycle of attacks, character assassination and mutual recriminations on religion, race and the economy.
Between a quarter and a third of Obama and Clinton supporters say that they would not now vote for the other in November.
The prospect of a new Gore candidacy was raised last week in Time magazine by Joe Klein, the doyen of American political writers, and discussed on the main cable news networks, CNN, Fox and MSNBC.
If neither Mr Obama nor Mrs Clinton has the 2,025 delegates needed to win the nomination, and if both appear unable to beat Mr McCain, under one scenario a group of about 100 party elders - the "super-delegates" - could sit out the first ballot in Denver, preventing either candidate winning outright, and then offer Mr Gore the nomination for the good of the party.
Tim Mahoney, a Democrat congressman from Florida, said last week: "If it goes into the convention, don't be surprised if someone different is at the top of the ticket." This suggests the party would accept a Gore-Clinton or a Gore-Obama pairing.
Following a brief flurry of speculation that he might jump into the race last year, Mr Gore claimed he had "fallen out of love" with politics, but he has pointedly refused to rule out another tilt at the White House and said that the only job in public life that interests him is the presidency.
I think it's becoming more than likely that Gore will be nominated. That means the open question is the same as McCain's: who will he pick as a running mate?
Love it!
You know, if I was either Hillary or Obama (and thank the Lord I’m not, LOL), I’d be reeeaallly ticked off at this idea. Gore’s been sitting around collecting accolades while they have been out on the campaign trail for months and months.
It just doesn’t get any better than this, folks.
(pops up another bowl of popcorn, this time with extra butter).
How do you spell desperate?.....Al Gore
How do you spell not that desperate?......John Kerry
Get the popcorn.
Hillery, McCain in drag.
“If it’s in the Telegraph, you just know the story is old.”
Exactly....They ought to at least update the name of the paper to “The Telephone”.
The dems must really think that they are in trouble to suggest this jackass as a presidential contender.......
“Gore is an old white male, I don’t see how he could possibly get the nod for the dems without feminist and african-american heads exploding. The gorons are dreaming.......”
I think I see an Obama/Gore ticket coming.
Kerry! Like I said above, save Earth and undo the last two unjust elections, with one vote!
Seems like they need to get a grip on reality. Either HIllary or Obama would have to be on the underside of the ticket. If it's Hillary (and I really don't think that would happen because I imagine even Gore has had his fill of Hillary)...it looks like the man is telling "the woman" that he's better. If Obama took the VP spot, well, that looks even worse...the black guy isn't good enough, let the white male take over. Disaster waiting to happen no matter how you look at it.
Who is Algore and why should I care?
Nope. Michael Steele (chairman of GOPAC, for those who don't know) mentioned this possibility when he was out here in Seattle a couple of weeks ago.
He said to watch for it. He also said to get out the popcorn. :-)
Sorry folks, Goron ain’t gonna get off the high speed global warning gravy train he’s on!
Thinking about it, I really hope Gore is nominated and I also hope he wears make-up to the debate, and gets in McCain’s face just like he did to GWB. What do you think McCain would do if Gore tried the same body language on him that he did on Bush? Wouldn’t that be an interesting thing to see, LOL.
Who is Al Gore? I’ve been off of the net for over 20 minutes. Who is this fella?
And yes, popcorn futures would explode.
Love it!
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