Gore in 2008?

Draft Al Gore in 2008? Over at BlueOregon that's what Steve Novick says the Democrats need to do.

So who – really – should progressives support for President in 2008?

Well, let’s see. We need someone with a snowball’s chance of defeating Newt Gingrich’s new best friend, the warmongering front-runner. We need someone who was against the war from the beginning, but has credibility on national defense. And it would be nice to have someone with a whiff of Fate about him. For example, the last time an incumbent Vice-President lost a very close and possibly stolen election, he came storming back to win eight years later, in the midst of an increasingly unpopular war. So if you had someone like that lying around, he’d be an ideal candidate. Oh, and if you had someone with a real, big REASON to run, let’s say someone personally identified with one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced, something like, say, global warming, that would help, too …

Yeah, I know people think Al Gore ran a lousy campaign. As I recall, he started out about 20 points behind and won the damned thing, so I’m not sure how bad it really was. It’s true, certainly, that he shouldn’t have sighed during the debate and it’s true that (like Nixon) he failed to take full advantage of his ties to the popular incumbent.

A "real" anti war candidate.

But think about it. What do we need? To win on the war (and to energize progressives), we need a real anti-war candidate, not a “yes but” like the hapless John Kerry. But it has to be an anti-war candidate who’s reassuringly familiar, so voters won’t be afraid to give him the reigns during these internationally turbulent times. And we need someone with a chance of beating Hillary – and ONLY Gore has the stature to beat Hillary.

Oh yes, and he could beat Hillary. Like Novick, I don't agree with Al on everything but he's a lot better than Hillary and did I mention he can win, he did once already. And he is a "real anti war candidate and has been active on the global warming front.

But he was against the war. Loudly, proudly, and early. He is the person, among all the people on earth, who is best suited to lead the nation that emits 25% of the world’s carbon dioxide in an effort to save the world’s coastal cities from drowning in the deluge from melted ice caps, save the world’s farmland from dying of thirst, save us all from a future of disaster and disease. And he is the only Democrat who can beat the over-calculating, pro-war, widely-hated (although I acknowledge much of the hatred is rather irrational) front-runner.

Something to think about.

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