Title: Interesting Op-Ed from New Hampshire
pondr - June 11, 2007 07:59 PM (GMT)
Interesting...first time I've heard that he has "... assembled a bit of a political shop, gathering old hands and politicos close to him..."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucds/20070609/cm_u...dtowatchandwait[/EMAIL]
singhtjunior - June 12, 2007 03:04 AM (GMT)
http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/6/11/82114/1080An interesting analysis
Ipso Polls Gore at 20%
by Jerome Armstrong, Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 08:25:12 AM EST
For the most part, the polling on the side of the Democrats has not been very fluid as of late, but is that changing? If you look over at the chart on RCP, there's been a definite up-tick in favor of Al Gore over the last month.
Ipso has a new poll out, and among Democrats:
June March
Clinton 33 38
Obama 21 21
Gore 20 14
Edwards 12 10
Richardson 3 4
There's a huge opening in the narrative of the Democratic race. Clinton's mentality seems to have a sort of 'hold the fort' strategy while Penn does his micro-polling of nearly every Iowa and NH voter; Obama is working his ass off to get as much cash as possible for all those Axlerod/Margolis television commercials; and neither of them is making much of a move against the other. Both of them are running safe campaigns and focused on stockpiling money for polling and television commercials.
Everyone following the race closely knows that the national numbers of Edwards hide his early-state strength. IA, NH, SC, MI, NV, in all of those key states, Edwards is in the thick of it with his organizing. And Bonior is right in saying that Labor is going to start to play a more important role beginning in the Fall. And if Gore doesn't decide to run, the benefactor will be Edwards.
But for the most part, the Democratic race seems frozen. Is Gore gonna get in or stay out? I don't think anyone knows, and probably not even Gore himself. But with his book at #1 now on the NYT's bestseller list, his polling numbers inching up, I sure hope he's getting the signal to seriously considering running.
AlGoreFan - June 12, 2007 05:46 AM (GMT)
Interesting...
| QUOTE |
GORE AND THOMPSON CAN AFFORD TO WATCH AND WAITSat Jun 9, 7:56 PM ET
TWIN MOUNTAIN, N.H. -- It's not a good sign when, six months from the Iowa caucuses, a lot of the talk is about two people who are not running for president.
On the Republican side, that talk is about Fred Thompson, actor, former senator, possible savior of the GOP from whatever ails it (too close an identification with the Iraq war, too changeable a position on abortion, too divergent from conservative orthodoxy on social issues). He may announce his intentions on July 4.
On the Democratic side, that talk is about Al Gore, film entrepreneur, environmental crusader, winner of the popular vote but loser of the Electoral College. He'll wait longer.
Mr. Gore is the man of the hour, though perhaps not the next president of the United States. His face is on the cover of Time, his movie is in the theaters, his book is in the stores, his name is on the lips of Democrats coast to coast.
As long ago as the age of Aristotle, we have known that nature abhors a vacuum. But there is no vacuum in the Democratic Party right now, at least in the wing of the party where Mr. Gore is positioning himself. There are plenty of people saying what he is saying, though if you read his book all the way through you will see that he is saying it with far more intensity, far more passion, than his colleagues. And yet he persists, a spectral image on the fringes of the Democratic race. There is a sense that the contest will not begin until he decides whether he is in it.
That's a strong, and an unusual, position to occupy, especially since Gore is so well-known and so well-defined. The last Democrat to play this role was Gov. Mario M. Cuomo of New York, and much of his appeal was speculative; no one knew whether the poetry of his campaign style in New York (and on display in his stirring address at the San Francisco convention in 1984) would translate nationally or, more specifically, in the small towns of New Hampshire. Political junkies crave what they don't have, or never have had.
But there isn't a Democratic voter alive who doesn't know Mr. Gore, his style, his approach, his interests. Many of them are his critics, believing he didn't fight fiercely enough in the overtime after the 2000 balloting, or that he was too reluctant to enlist the assistance of Bill Clinton in the closing days of that election.
And yet for all those reservations, all those mixed feelings, all those tears of disappointment, all that letdown, Mr. Gore could be the Reggie Jackson of the Democratic race: the straw that stirs the drink. The question is whether he will be Mr. October, which is about the latest he could plunge into the race. One thing seems sure: The snow that still hugs the sides of Mount Washington will be gone before he decides.
Right now Mr. Gore is avoiding letting anyone -- even those very close to him -- know his plans, or even his inclinations. He has assembled a bit of a political shop, gathering old hands and politicos close to him, and he has played the movie and his books with great skill. He gets style points, too, for sticking his finger in the eye of the press -- one of the major themes of his latest book, "The Assault on Reason," is the failures of the mass media -- even as he benefits from the attention of the press.
So far Mr. Gore has decided only to think about running. He has not decided to run. The field is more complicated now than when he devised his late-entry strategy; the surprise candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama, now competing with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for top spot in the party lists, has added to the complexity of the calculus. So, too, has the compression of the political calendar, with so many states voting so much earlier than the last time he ran.
But this remains the same: Mr. Gore is a formidable competitor for the support of the new powers in the Democratic Party, both the Net roots and the grass roots. He was the guy who most vociferously warned about global warming. He was the guy who most ardently supported the technological revolution and the Internet, which increasingly are the oxygen of modern politics. This gives him instant affinity and credibility in these new power centers.
Some people close to Gore believe he could raise $15 million in a week, $50 million in a month. These new power centers are also wealth centers. Whispering in his ear -- Run, Al, run -- are Joel Hyatt, the onetime legal entrepreneur, and Steve Jobs, the techno maven.
But in the back of Gore's mind is the notion that this time he could run a different kind of campaign, a more authentic one, shorn of all the high-priced and highly irritating advisers and consultants and pollsters who cramped his style and muddied his message in 2000. (They did it in 1988, too, but that's another matter.) He'd run as the reluctant warrior and as a man moved by the issues of his time, not by the conviction, shared so blatantly by Ms. Clinton, Mr. Obama and others, that his time has come.
So in the end Gore and Thompson, the other non-candidate candidate from Tennessee, will do the same thing. They held the same seat in the Senate -- its prior occupants included Cordell Hull, Estes Kefauver and Howard H. Baker Jr., all of whom had presidential ambitions -- and together they will hang back awhile and see how things develop. The charms of Iowa in August are much overrated.
If they see a clear path to the nomination, they'll take it. If they see obstacles, they won't. They both depend in part on the stumbles of others. Tennessee is the Volunteer State, and neither man has volunteered yet. That's because both can afford to wait, and will. |
Wayne in WA State - June 12, 2007 06:35 AM (GMT)
As far as I am aware it's not quite accurate to say that Gore has assembled a bit of a political shop, or is gathering old hands and politicos. Some of his people from the 2000 campaign met once for an "anniversary" get-together; but Al Gore himself has not gathered any staff for any clearly political purpose. People like us are gathering around the cause of seeing him run, but this is truly a grass-roots, all-volunteer movement.
Come to think about it, there is already more of a movement to draft Al Gore to run in 2008 than there has ever been to draft anyone for president in my lifetime. You would have to go back at least to the Eisenhower campaign of 1952 to find anything remotely comparable.
If Al Gore can run a campaign with the discipline he has shown regarding his intentions and the strategy he has shown with An Inconvenient Truth and The Assault on Reason (I know he can!!) we are going to witness one of the most incredible events in the entire history of American politics.
get ready :good:
pondr - June 12, 2007 09:43 AM (GMT)
| QUOTE (Wayne in WA State @ Jun 12 2007, 12:35 AM) |
As far as I am aware it's not quite accurate to say that Gore has assembled a bit of a political shop, or is gathering old hands and politicos. Some of his people from the 2000 campaign met once for an "anniversary" get-together; but Al Gore himself has not gathered any staff for any clearly political purpose. People like us are gathering around the cause of seeing him run, but this is truly a grass-roots, all-volunteer movement.
Come to think about it, there is already more of a movement to draft Al Gore to run in 2008 than there has ever been to draft anyone for president in my lifetime. You would have to go back at least to the Eisenhower campaign of 1952 to find anything remotely comparable.
If Al Gore can run a campaign with the discipline he has shown regarding his intentions and the strategy he has shown with An Inconvenient Truth and The Assault on Reason (I know he can!!) we are going to witness one of the most incredible events in the entire history of American politics.
get ready :good:
|
I just want to be clear here that I was not saying myself that he has gathered any sort of team...I was simply quoting from the op-ed piece.
I agree that it probably isn't quite accurate to say that he is gathering a team...since I live and work in Carthage, Tennessee, I feel pretty sure that if anything of that sort was actually taking place, I'd probably hear about it before it went national...he still has a number of those "closest friends" here, some of whom I know personally as well...Carthage is a small town, and news like that would travel FAST here. He is still our favorite son, regardless of what the rest of the state thinks.
I just found it interesing that a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist would would paint a picture portraying AG doing something so obvious...it's a little early, in my opinion, and I don't think that's gonna be his style this time around.
For what it's worth, the public consensus here is that he IS going to run this time, however :)
earthmother - June 12, 2007 03:13 PM (GMT)
Hold on, guys. There's loads of buzz in Nashville, lots of stuff happening . . . phone calls, meetings, etc. Impossible to say if it qualifies as assembling a team, but things are definitely happening.
And does anyone think it's odd that the book tour just came to a screeching halt? You could hear the rubber being left on the road, the brakes were applied so hard. This was originally billed as 12-city tour. Well, he had 9 events in 8 cities. Since Chicago on June 6th, there's been nothing. Things are quiet. Is he just taking a breather? Is he involved in plans for Live Earth on July 7th? We don't know. He's home now, in Tennessee. And whenever he does that, he's usually deep in contemplation, about something. It remains to be seen what . . .
Wayne in WA State - June 12, 2007 03:48 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE (pondr @ Jun 12 2007, 03:43 AM) |
I just want to be clear here that I was not saying myself that he has gathered any sort of team...I was simply quoting from the op-ed piece.
I agree that it probably isn't quite accurate to say that he is gathering a team...since I live and work in Carthage, Tennessee, I feel pretty sure that if anything of that sort was actually taking place, I'd probably hear about it before it went national...he still has a number of those "closest friends" here, some of whom I know personally as well...Carthage is a small town, and news like that would travel FAST here. He is still our favorite son, regardless of what the rest of the state thinks.
I just found it interesing that a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist would would paint a picture portraying AG doing something so obvious...it's a little early, in my opinion, and I don't think that's gonna be his style this time around.
For what it's worth, the public consensus here is that he IS going to run this time, however :) |
Welcome pondr :good: I know you joined in February but you've only posted a few times so let me welcome you now. It's especially good to have someone join us from Carthage! :clap:
Of course you were just quoting from that article. But I do wonder about what EM wrote regarding the book tour... Could it be the book tour was cut short because of a lack of interest by the publisher and book stores around the country? :o NO! It's the number one selling non-fiction book in the country with bookstores willing to push everything else aside for a chance to have Al Gore visit.
It's four weeks until the Live Earth concerts but it just may be that something else is going on. Let us know what the local word is from Carthage, OK? :D
earthmother - June 12, 2007 05:42 PM (GMT)
Okay, so he's not in Tennessee. He slipped out while no one was looking and went to Istanbul, Turkey. :wacko:
TNblue - June 13, 2007 02:42 AM (GMT)
Hi pondr! We're neighbors. I'm next door in Wilson County, hoping the dams don't break.
The activity in Nashville could be mistaken for something it's not if people confuse it with The Climate Project becoming more organized and adding staff. Not at all the same thing.
He's gone to TURKEY?? Hmm...
TNblue - June 13, 2007 03:03 AM (GMT)
Turkey. Right. I get it now.
pondr - June 13, 2007 03:25 PM (GMT)
Hello All, and thank you for the welcome. Wayne, you are right that I don't post very often. I come here to look for articles or editorials that I haven't seen or haven't heard about from elsewhere. This site is a great place to keep up with all that is going on with AG. I only post when I find something that either hasn't been posted here (which isn't very often), or when I hear something locally that sparks an interest (by locally, I mean Carthage, not Nashville...I don't have any contacts in his Nashville office).
Hey TNBlue! I know what you mean about the dams...I like the fishing in the river, but, as convenient as it may be, I'd prefer not to do it from my living room couch! :o Speaking to that, I haven't seen any sort of activity going on at his mother's house, which sits on a hill on property that borders the river...but I'll say this much - when I see sandbags going up around that house, I'm heading for the hills!! :D
As far as the news from the ol' hometown, there isn't much being said right now. Everything has been quiet for the last couple of weeks, sort of like a "watchful waiting" atmosphere. No-one is expecting any sort of major announcements or moves until after the concerts, so speculations here are sort of on hold...but it's at the back of everyone's mind.
As far as the Turkey trip, I was kind of surprised by it. Why now, and why so suddenly? What has happened with Turkey over the last couple of weeks? What moves have they made that have made headline news? What have they done that might require an adjustment or a rethink of American policy somewhere in the world? What declared candidate can say that they have been to Turkey?
Maybe I'm reading too much into this trip....but it's something worth thinking about...anybody have any thoughts? I'd like to hear them...
whybaby - June 13, 2007 09:13 PM (GMT)
Hi pondr, and everyone,
I probably have no information that anyone else here doesn't have as well, but here's part of what's happening:
From turkishpress.com:
ISTANBUL - Former United States Vice-President Al Gore has arrived in Istanbul on Monday at an invitation from the WWF-Turkish Foundation for Preservation of Environment and Garanti Bankasi of Turkey.
Al Gore and his spouse Tipper arrived in Istanbul Ataturk Airport with a Turkish Airlines jet coming from Chicago.
Gore is scheduled to deliver a speech on "global climate change" at the Ciragan Palace on Tuesday. Istanbul is one of the (now) 9 concert venues for Live Earth. I'm sure that he is helping to coalesce their concert plans, and also generate excitement for the movement and the concert. Here's more from
http://www.todayszaman.com:Al Gore, who teamed up with Live 8 creator Kevin Wall to produce Live Earth, a musical concert behemoth taking place July 7 and featuring an all-star lineup of some of the world's greatest musicians, including Yusuf Islam, Genesis, Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers and many more, was in İstanbul Tuesday to announce the concert.
The event, which will touch every continent on the planet and raise funds and awareness for environmental causes, specifically global warming, an issue close to Gore's heart, was introduced in İstanbul yesterday, since the city is one of the nine world cities hosting a Live Earth concert. Speaking at a press conference Gore said, "İstanbul, the jewel of the world, will be one of the nine cities of the Live Earth concert." Gore said Live Earth's message was an SOS "because we are facing an unprecedented planetary emergency." But I certainly would like to know what will be happening with the book tour. Ah, you lucky folk who got to meet him so far! I wish he were coming to New England...
pondr, if you're in Carthage, we'll be very interested in every tea leaf you read! :P
pondr - June 13, 2007 09:39 PM (GMT)
Hi whybaby-
Yeah, he's gone there to help organize and promote the concerts...it's just that it seems almost serendipitous to me that he went to Turkey at this time, when everything else is going on there. Like I said, I may be reading too much into this.
As far as reading tea leaves, I'll leave that to the political pundits and the talking heads on television. If I hear anything here that is solid information from someone who would SURELY know (and I am on a first name basis with a couple of folks who fit that category), then I will pass that on ASAP, I promise. But if it is just rumor or conjecture, I will probably keep it to myself.
The way I see it, there's no point in spreading rumors when what we are all looking for is fact. We all want him to run, and we all are looking as hard as we can for any sign that he's going to. I don't want to muddle all the effort and hard work that everyone here is doing with rumors.
I am in Carthage, and I do know a couple of folks who will most likely be among the first to know if any decision is made (assuming he stops playing everything so close to the vest as he has been), but other than that, I am in the same boat as everyone else...hoping he will run, and committed to working my butt off for him if he does.
Nagasakee - June 14, 2007 05:18 PM (GMT)
I was wondering...what are everyone's predictions on these concerts?...will Al get a huge political boost, or will it be a non-event. I know the concerts themselves are being televised...will Al be a big part of the coverage you think...i.e. what is his role going to be that day...or not?
tkdveg - June 14, 2007 06:20 PM (GMT)
I think that the concerts WILL have political impact, but indirectly.
Through this massive event, the people in this country will 1) become more aware of the pressing global issues (ie. the goal of the concerts), and 2) become more aware that the rest of the world is ahead of us in their commitments to finding viable solutions and decreasing damaging CO2 levels. As more become aware, I think they will see who has lead them to this vital truth. The US is just a little late getting on board with the rest of the world.
Gore will go to great lengths to keep politics out of this concert. He is trying to foster a global community that is united, not divided. He wants everyone in the world to know what is happenig to our planet at our own hands. This is his true message.
Change is happening, here and now - we all see it and feel it; it's really there. :Y:
As people begin to remove the blinders that confuse, he will undoubtedly emerge as the obvious choice