Posted on 07/10/2002 5:30:37 AM PDT by Quilla
Al Gore has decided to make another run for the presidency, and his renomination by the Democrats in 2004 is inevitable.
He could very well be the next president of the United States.
Gore, who took a year and a half leave from national politics, is back by popular demand. He is the clear choice of Democratic voters as their party's '04 nominee against President Bush.
With a shaky economy and Bush's approval ratings dropping, Gore should be formidable in the '04 general election. He won the popular vote by more than 700,000 votes in 2000 while losing the Electoral College ballot by a single vote.
Despite Bush's stern words against corporate greed, he has possible exposure on this issue. There are strong indications that Bush may have enriched himself as the result of insider information. Vice President Dick Cheney is also vulnerable on this issue.
When the voting public is angry with the power elite, it's usually good for the Democrats. Gore senses that his party has a powerful issue that could win back the presidency.
Two other Democrats, Andrew Jackson and Grover Cleveland, lost the presidency while winning the popular vote. Four years after their respective losses, Jackson and Cleveland captured the White House. History could repeat itself in 2004.
Bush, whose popularity got a temporary boost from the events of 9/11, could still be a one-termer. He is the fourth president elected without a plurality of the popular vote. None of the other three won a second term.
The Democratic nomination is Gore's for the asking. If the Democrats have a crowded field, Gore will be even tougher to beat. According to a recent national Democratic poll, Gore led seven potential rivals with 46 percent of the vote.
Senators John Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina have been more active than Gore in raising funds for their '04 Democratic presidential bids. When second-quarter reports are made public this week, it's possible that Gore may have less money on hand than several '04 Democratic hopefuls.
But Gore has major advantages over the Democratic field. He is the largest vote-getter in the party's history and is the only Democratic candidate with a national political base. Kerry and Edwards are bright and capable but unknown outside of their respective regions.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), the only potential rival who could have seriously contested Gore in the primaries, set the stage for his renomination by removing herself from contention. Clinton is interested in the vice presidential nomination and would be an exciting choice for the Democratic Party.
Clinton recently met with Geraldine Ferraro, who made history in 1984 as the first woman nominated for the vice presidency by a major political party.
Another possibility, which Gore has discussed, is to run as a team in the primaries with Sen. Joseph Lieberman, his 2000 running-mate. At the very least, Lieberman will be on Gore's short list of potential running mates.
House minority leader Dick Gephardt and Senate majority leader Tom Daschle, both of whom have explored '04 presidential bids, are expected to abandon those plans in the wake of Gore's decision. If Gore goes on to win the presidency, he will do better if Gephardt and Daschle retain their current leadership positions.
Edwards could strengthen the '04 Democratic ticket. The North Carolinian is the first Southern Democrat in two decades to unseat a Republican senator.
A Democratic president has never been elected without carrying a Southern state. Gore, who is from Tennessee, got shut out in this critical region in 2000. In 1948, Harry Truman of Missouri chose Alben Barkley of Kentucky as his running mate. In 1992, Clinton of Arkansas chose Gore. Both of these tickets did well in Southern and border states and went on to win the general election. A Gore-Edwards combination could split the South and recapture the White House for the Democrats
LOL.
Imagine, Al on the podium doing his inimitable racebaiting; slandering the Founding Fathers; promoting the Kyoto treaty and his other insane environmental views; supporting reparations; encouraging feminism, abortion, and promiscuity; touting more stringent gun control measures; etc.
Al's "real" views are no doubt compatible with the hard core lefties who slouch through Harvard Square (and the Cornell campus?). But that's about it. The Red Zone will certainly get larger next time around.
Poor boy... maybe he didn't see Al and Tipper on TV this weekend... so pathetic!
Al kooked like Willy Loman on a bad day and “Tipper” was stoked-up on “roofies”.
If Gore doesn't go away on his own, the DNC will take care of him like Joe Pesci in “Good'fellas”.
Bush, whose popularity got a temporary boost from the events of 9/11, could still be a one-termer
Temporary, how does the highest sustained approval ratings of any President equal a "temporary boost."
He will lose this election bid as well.
It will be all the "Vast Right Wing Conspiracies" fault. But, if your algore, chairman Mao is a right winger, so that makes sense.
If this is true, it is indicative that the Democrats do not view their odds as good, otherwise they would fight like the cats and dogs that they are.
I'd phrase it as: The Nomination is Gore's for the having.
I'm sure the same thing with Gore, they either are going to let him run as someone mentioned, a sacrificial lamb, figuring nobody could beat Bush. Or, they can't help but let him run, since he's put himself in the ring and to deny him the chance might turn off some Dem voters.
By the way, if you click on the source, Mr. Neal's email link is happily provided. I just emailed him and thanked him for providing me with a good laugh.
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