Gore’s Answer on Future in Politics Wrongly Ignites Liberal Imagination
Tuesday, December 11th, 2007In an interview with CNN on Monday, Nobel Prize winner and former Vice President Al Gore said that he has not ruled out a return to politics in the future. This return would only be for the presidency instead of the Senate, the Tennessee state house or any other office. The immediate response by pundits and liberal activists has been misplaced since Al Gore has been clear about his intention not to run in 2008. Democrats need to focus on the present instead of the wounds of 2000 if they hope to win the White House and control Congress.
The Democratic primary season started a year ago and Al Gore’s entrance into the race would cause chaos in a seemingly Democratic year. As someone who worked for the Gore campaign in Wisconsin in 2000, it pains me to say that Al Gore will never run for president again. He had a limited window to return to politics without sounding like a doddering veteran politician or…well, Mike Gravel.
I dislike the idea that Al Gore is betraying the Democrats or wasting his potential by not running for president. There have been plenty of great leaders who have not used the presidency to press their agenda. Gore is familiar with partisan rancor with his role in the 2000 debacle and seems likely to stay above the fray. The question liberal bloggers and writers need to ask themselves is why Al Gore would run for president of the United States when his campaign against global warming influences the entire world.
