[Sosfbay-discuss] [Fwd: [G-C-F] Unnamed source: Gore mulls Green Party run in '08 (InsightMagazine)]

[Tian Harter]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	[G-C-F] Unnamed source: Gore mulls Green Party run in '08 
(InsightMagazine)
Date: 	Thu, 29 Mar 2007 17:36:28 -0700
From: 	Jo Chamberlain <joc at pobox.com>
To: 	<cal-forum at marla.cagreens.org>



Gore mulling third party run in '08

Insight Magazine, March 27-April 2, 2007, Posted
On: 3/26/2007
http://www.insightmag.com


Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton faces a possible new
threat to her presidential ambitions.

Former Vice President Al Gore has again been
entertaining offers to run for president. Gore
has been discussing a run for a third party
nomination with family and close aides.

"Al Gore has been energized by the attention he's
been receiving as America's leading
environmentalist," a political source close to
Gore said. "He believes this might present an
opportunity to become president or at least try
again."

Sources close to Gore said Ralph Nader has sought
to recruit the former vice president to run as
the candidate for the Green Party. They said Gore
has not rejected the offer and was consulting
with family and friends to determine the
feasibility of such a candidacy.

At this point, Gore stands behind Clinton and
Sen. Barack Obama in any race for the Democratic
presidential nomination. But the polls report
that many Democrats who support Clinton could
switch their support to Gore.

Still, Gore, largely estranged from former
President Bill Clinton since 2000, is said to
have concluded that he stands no chance of
beating Hillary for the Democratic presidential
nomination. But sources close to Gore said the
former vice president believes that he could
present himself as a genuine liberal in any
general election that would include Clinton.

For her part, Clinton has been monitoring Gore's
feelers regarding a presidential race. The
sources said Clinton has expressed concern that a
third party effort by Gore could hurt her chances
in the general election.

"Gore is invulnerable on several issues," a
political strategist familiar with Gore's
consultations said. "Unlike Obama, he can't be
attacked as inexperienced; he has much more
experience than Hillary. And, he was Bill's vice
president."

Nader, a harsh critic of then-President Bill
Clinton, was for a time the leader of the Green
Party. Nader has used the movement for previous
races for the presidency. Nader's campaign was
believed to have spoiled Gore's efforts for the
presidency in the 2000 election, particularly in
the state of Florida where George W. Bush won by
only 537 votes. In 1996 and 2000, Nader was the
presidential nominee of the Green Party.

Over the last month, Gore's profile has
skyrocketed in the wake of his Academy Award for
his documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," which
examines global warming. On March 21, Gore
testified to two congressional panels that global
climate change marked the greatest danger in U.S.
history and issued a 10-point plan that included
an immediate freeze on new emissions from cars
and power plants.

"This is not a normal time," Gore said in his
first appearance on Capitol Hill since 2001. "We
are facing a planetary emergency. I'm fully aware
that that phrase sounds shrill to many people's
ears. But it is accurate."

Although a handful of Republicans criticized and
questioned his research and the factual basis for
many of his claims, many Democrats on the Senate
Environment and Public Works

Committee viewed Gore's appearance as a
homecoming. The Democrats, with Sen. Hillary
Clinton sitting on the committee, said Gore was
leading a nationwide movement that sought drastic
changes in the environment.

"You have acted for us," said Senate Environment
and Public Works Committee Chair Sen. Barbara
Boxer, California Democrat. "You have acted more
than anyone else."

The sources said Gore, who also serves as an
adviser to Google, would quietly test the waters
in a series of polls in the spring of 2007. They
said his high profile will probably be maintained
over the next few months when he publicizes his
latest book, "The Assault on Reason" in May. The
book is said to be an indictment of American
politics.



-- 
/Jo Chamberlain.
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Tian
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