http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/run-go...1696176912.html

Run Gore Run: ad petitions Al to throw hat in the ring

October 13, 2007




HAVING won the Nobel Peace Prize last night, will Al Gore now set his sights on the White House? Fuelled by a full-page advertisement in The New York Times this week urging him to run, the former vice-president has rocketed up in the odds on who will become the Democratic nominee.

It seems that no matter how much Mr Gore and his aides rule it out, the speculation refuses to die.

Despite fresh denials this week, Mr Gore has gained on rivals in the online betting markets.

Draft Gore, a national group that for years has been trying to pull Mr Gore into a presidential race, ran the advertisement on Wednesday, saying he had an obligation to seek the presidency again.

The group said it had collected small donations over the internet to pay for the ads. The Times advertisement alone cost roughly $US65,000 ($A72,000), a spokeswoman for the newspaper said.

But the Times reported that his representatives stopped short of declaring that he absolutely would not run.

"He really deeply appreciates where this comes from, and what people are trying to say to him," Kalee Kreider, a spokeswoman, said, but added, "I think he's said it many times, that he has no plans or intention to run for president."

Organisers from several of the groups seeking a Gore campaign say they take the lack of a definitive no as a green light to keep working, especially as ballot registration deadlines loom.

"I want to hear him say, 'If called, I will not serve my country,' " Draft Gore's treasurer, Eva Ritchey, a former local Democratic chairwoman in western North Carolina told the Times.

But as for entering the presidential race, political analysts said it was highly unlikely Mr Gore was planning a late entry into the race for the presidential nomination.

"I know of nobody who believes there is even a 1 per cent chance of Gore entering the race," said Charlie Cook, one of Washington's most seasoned analysts.

Hillary Clinton enjoys a commanding lead of 43 per cent, compared with 24 per cent for Barack Obama. When pollsters remember to ask about Mr Gore, he scores about 10 per cent, down from a peak of 18 per cent in June.

Huge amounts of cash are required to stage a presidential run. Senator Clinton and Senator Obama have amassed around $US80 million each, which would be difficult to match in the three months to the first primaries.

Then there's Super Tuesday, on February 5, when many of the biggest states vote. This requires a massive spend in some of the most expensive media markets in the world, such as California, New York and probably Florida.

With NEW YORK TIMES

�¡Albert Arnold Gore jnr was born in Washington on March 31, 1948, to Albert Gore snr, who represented Tennessee in Congress for 32 years, and Pauline Gore, a homemaker and law school graduate.

�¡As a toddler Gore bounced on the knee of Richard Nixon, the California Republican who years later, as president, helped oust Gore's Democratic father from Congress.

�¡After graduating from Harvard, he married Mary Elizabeth "Tipper" Aitcheson, volunteered for the military and served as an army journalist in Vietnam.

�¡On his return home, he became a divinity student and went to work for The Nashville Tennessean as a reporter.

�¡In 1976, a House seat from central Tennessee became vacant and he won it.

�¡Bill Clinton picked Gore as his running mate in 1992.

�¡In August 2000, Gore won the Democratic Party nomination for US president. Gore got around 300,000 more votes nationally than Bush. But Bush got the needed state-based 270 electoral votes to win.

�¡Since then Gore has dedicated himself to raising public awareness of global warming.

�¡He produced a documentary about a slide show he has given on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth.


This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/10/...1696176912.html

300,000????? It was more than 500,000.