Gore says no plans to run for presidency
By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent
Wed Oct 17, 4:35 AM ET

OSLO (Reuters) - Former Vice President Al Gore has ruled out joining the U.S. presidential race after winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his work fighting climate change.

Gore, narrowly beaten by President George W. Bush in the 2000 race, said that it was a "great honor" to win the prestigious award, announced in Oslo on Friday. Gore will share the $1.5 million prize with the U.N. climate panel.

"I don't have plans to be a candidate again so I don't really see it in that context at all," Gore said when asked in an interview with Norway's NRK public television aired on Wednesday about how the award would affect his political future.

NRK said it was Gore's first interview since the prize revived speculation that he might make a late bid for the Democratic nomination for the 2008 presidential election.

An organization called www.draftgore.com said that 200,000 people had signed a petition to urge Gore to run, with a jump of 70,000 signatures in four days after the prize.

"I'm involved in a different kind of campaign, it's a global campaign," Gore said. "It's a campaign to change the way people think about the climate crisis."

Gore has repeatedly said that he has no plans to run, without completely ruling it out, in a crowded Democratic field against Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards.

It would be hard, but not impossible, for Gore to enter the race. The first contest on the road to the election in November 2008, the Iowa caucuses, is less than 100 days away.

CLIMATE CRISIS

Asked how it was to win the Nobel Prize, Gore said: "It's impossible to put it into words, it's such a great honor."

"For me personally it means the chance to be more effective in trying to deliver this message about the climate crisis and the urgency of solving the climate crisis."

Gore also won an Oscar for his documentary film "An Inconvenient Truth" about the threats from global warming, such as more floods, droughts, risks of disease, more powerful storms and rising seas.

Separately, the director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute defended the 2007 award from critics who say that climate change has too little to do with peacemaking as envisaged by Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will.

"The Nobel Committee has always had a broad definition of peace," Geir Lundestad wrote in the daily Aftenposten.

"When seas rise, the number of climate refugees could quickly rise," Lundestad said. "When glaciers melt, rivers will be reduced or even dry out. The lack of resources will increase in parts of the world."

"All this will put weak states under great pressure," he said. "Drought and desertification have already led to the first 'climate wars' in Darfur and in the whole of the Sahel belt across Africa."

He also noted that the first prize, in 1901, was shared by Henry Dunant, the founder of the Red Cross. Some people at the time argued that alleviating suffering had nothing to do with peace.

I'm feeling really, really, really disappointed.

I think you speak for many, if not all, of us. But worse than Gore himself not running is what our alternatives may be: Clinton or Giuliani. I think Gore needs to endorse Obama or Edwards to give us a chance to get a real progressive voice in the White House.

I think if Gore is really not going to run, the DraftGore folks should focus their energies on a viable alternative: Obama or Edwards.

We've been here before - Gore giving his usual "I'm not a candidate" response to the foreign media, that assumes more than may be true. In my mind, the door isn't closed until he tells the drafters to stop, which he hasn't yet...and hopefully won't.

Consider this from DailyKos:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/17/93224/917
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Will run? Won't run? How Al Gore can stop the madness
by Barcelona
Wed Oct 17, 2007 at 07:10:25 AM PDT

Sigh. Look, I'll be brief. I come here this morning, just a peak 'cause I have other work, seriously, and oh my god, what do I find? Three Gore diaries on the rec' list, one urging Al to run, one offering in-depth analysis the latest poll data from Gallup on Al's chances, and one that states categorically as "breaking news" that Gore has ruled out a run completely.. Guess which one made my heart stop? Thankfully, having been on this roller-coaster for a while, I check out the comments and sure enough, Gore has said nothing of the kind , nothing new at all, and who really thinks he would break such a huge piece of news to the Europeans before his own people?

One problem that has been raised, and it's a very valid point, is how will Gore be able to shift gears from repeatedly insisting, these many months, that "I have no intention", "I have no plans" to run for President to suddenly declaring he's in? What can he say without losing all credibility and becoming a laughing stock on the evening news? That is what this diary will examine.

What can he say? It's pretty simple.

"Plans can change.

In the light of the worsening situation (insert references to
- the growing gap between rich and poor in U.S., greatest since the 20's,
- the tens of millions and ever-growing proportion of our people who languish without proper healthcare coverage, for themselves and their children,
- the deliberate subversion of our democracy and the systematic dismantling of our constitutional protections ,
- the unfolding catastrophe in Iraq, where out troops are trapped with no way forward and no way out,
- the ever-mounting plunder of our treasury by private interests tied to this administration,
- and the latest scientific data on the planetary emergency which the IPCC report due out next month will reflect),

I feel it is my duty to step forward and run for the office of President of these United States, to serve my country and, with the support and guidance of the American people, should they elect me, to help restore the honour and good name of our great nation."
And that's just for starters. Now imagine the passion in his voice. I rest my case.

Is it posible that IF Gore came out now and stated that he was categorically NOT running----

That it would appear he was another defeated person for the presidency?

To come out and state that now would make it appear----well I was really thinking about it, but H-rod or whatever has just made it so I can not cakewalk to a win, etc???

To make that statement now, for us all to go away, would make it appear he just kept us hanging on just in case a window opened up or H-rod got caught in a bathroom etc.

He never came close to saying he was running---NEVER!

I know that if he annouces that he is running, it cannot be overseas. For some reason, I thnk he might hint of a run on David Letterman's show. Thye are friends, and Dave made a big deal of his winning the Nobel. He can't step back, and let this country go to "hell in a hand basket." We are so close to that right now. If he wants to save our earth, he has to be president.

When is he on Letterman?

I hate to be a downer, but I have now given up hope that Al is going to run in the Democratic primary. The filing deadlines are two weeks away, and if he is still saying "I have no intentions to run," this indicates that there has been no shift in his thinking. I think "I have no intentions to run but I have not ruled it out completely in the future" means "I'm not running for president in 2008" rather than "I'm being coy, stay tuned." That said, I do not understand:

(1) Why he has not told the DraftGore folks to cut it out,
(2) Why he uploaded three videos on campaign issues, and none on climate change,
(3) Why he would let Clinton win the nomination when that risks giving the presidency to the Republicans once again

My conclusion is that Gore is using his support to influence the campaign and will probably endorse one of the candidates at some point. Or he may be considering running outside the system. A 3rd party run if Clinton and Giuliani win the Democratic and Republican nominations is an outside possibility. I mean, if it is Clinton/Vilsack vs. Giuliani/McCain (boring, uninspiring, politics as usual tickets), a Gore/Bloomberg or Gore/Hagel third party ticket could win and I would back that.

With their money, Gore and Bloomberg together could just start a new party. It's been done before in American politics. It can be done again.

Ian O'Corrain
www.gore-obama2008.blogspot.com

I’m disappointed with Al’s choice of wording during the interview. Out of courtesy to his fellow Americans, he should publicly make it clear he has no intentions of running here in his home country.

Frankly, choosing not to run will greatly reduce the effectiveness of his message. If he were truly dedicated to improving the environment, he’d do it from a position of power, not from the sidelines. On the sidelines, he will quickly become marginalized into little more than a cheer leader.

I hate to be a downer, but I have now given up following the gloom and doomers in this thread. I am going to a Gore rally today with the news that CNN is reporting he is the best choice for DEMs to win the 2008 election.

I just got a positive thought: maybe Gore's strategy is to say "I have no intentions to run" until the very last possible minute (end of October/beginning of November). Then he can change his mind on the basis of the fact that the major Democratic presidential candidates have not made the climate change a priority, and have not taken the stands on other issues (war, health care, privacy rights and so forth) that he thinks they should. So, I am not expecting Gore to run at this point, but an 11th hour surprise still seems to me a possibility.

So, good luck to AlGoreFan! Maybe Al will drop some kind of hint tonight. I'm not counting on it, but I hope so.

People, people. Relax. There's nothing new in this report. Nothing. Read Gore's own words, not what the reporter has said.

Gore is known for making bold and what appear to be rather brash decisions. Think about it. All of his major announcements, whether it's that he's not running in 2004, or that he's endorsing Howard Dean, etc., have been total surprises, out of the blue, with no foreshadowing whatsoever. I've said previously that I thought there'd be small changes in his message after the Nobel Prize announcement, but I could well have been wrong. Or, maybe he's really not going to run. But he still has not ruled it out, and until he does, there's just as good a chance that he'll get in as there is that he won't.

Let's try to remain optimistic. Our campaign continues as before . . .

Thanks, EM. I will remain hopeful. :)

You and me both.

I ask all the others if the choices are say

Hillary/Lieberman
Rudy/Huckabee or Jeb/Hutchinson or Mitt/Jeb
Gore/Bloomberg

who would YOU vote for? I know who I would vote for

I downloaded the interview and simply do not see where the MSM mislead us in this instance. However, given the location of the interview, it would have been highly imappropriate for him to "compromise" the award by teetering on an annoucement. That does not change my belief that we are down to days, maybe less, for him to make the decision and that the time for equivocation and bromides is OVER and the time for clear, unequivocal statements of whether he will run for president this cycle has arrived. As I noted in another blog, he either should slam the door shut and bolt it or take the first plane to IOWA or New Hampshire and save our world. Period. If he goes on the Letterman Show -- when is he scheduled for that appearance -- and repeats the sanem hackneyed line about "no intentions", then I am going to wave the surrender flag. He cannot leave people twisting in the wind forever, and rather than twist in the wind, I'll just have to take my ball and go home.

IF David Letterman is NEXT WEEK-those are RERUNS folks

I would vote for Gore no matter WHO his running mate is, or WHAT party he's running in. If his running mate is Charlie Manson I would vote for Gore :unsure:

I would also vote for AL GORE no matter who his running mate is.

But the other choices are horrible. I don't want to see that pathetic poor excuse for a human being, Jeb Bush anywhere near the 2008 presidential election. :bad:

I couldn't agree more. There is no cause for panic/depression. Keep your faith in Al. Just chill out. :good: