October 26, 2007
Oil Soars, Fires Rage, War Looms, Hillary Maneuvers, Gore Surges in CBS Poll (Brent Budowsky)
Breaking news: In the latest CBS poll Al Gore is surging and if he were in the race, he stands alone in second place: Hillary 37, Gore 32, Obama 17.
Meanwhile, Gore is ahead and may win with a write-in vote the major grassroots poll by Democracy for America, found at democracyforamerica.com.
The stage is set. While the winds of war blow towards Tehran from a president who speaks of World War III, Hillary maneuvers wildly to explain her vote for the Lieberman-Kyl Iran resolution, while her oppo people dish the dirt that Obama voted for a similar resolution himself.
All of which makes the case for Gore.
In purely political terms, Barack Obama is a brilliant, inspiring public figure who may well have a presidential future, but his campaign has fallen far behind a front-runner who acts as though she takes the nomination for granted and moves farther to the right.
My take is, voters do not believe Obama, with his tremendous virtues, is ready for the brutally negative attack the Republicans will launch. Nor is he ready to be commander in chief in a very dangerous world with a Republican president who makes it more dangerous every day, and Republican candidates trying to appeal to their rabid rightist base by fomenting war hysteria.
A Gore-Obama ticket could well sweep the nation and inspire the world, while inspiring the Democratic Party to far more courage and principle than it has shown at any time during the Bush years.
While Hillary and Barack attack each other for Iran votes that play into the Bush politics of fear, Al Gore stands hard as a rock and tall as an oak as the most powerful voice for the loyal opposition.
Gore's appeal is not merely his experience as vice president, congressman, senator and Nobel Laureate but the larger truth that he is a champion of a sweeping worldview and a fearless opponent of Bush wrongs at a time
when throughout the nation, Democrats and independents believe their Washington-based leaders have been timid, fearful and ineffective.
Hillary is not part of the solution, she remains part of the problem, having supported the Iraq resolution in 2002, supported the Iraq war from 2002 through 2006, and supported the Lieberman Iran resolution barely hours ago.
It is fair to ask: If Hillary moves this far to the right supporting the Lieberman resolution after having supported the Iraq war from 2002 to 2006 even before a nomination, how far right does she go in a general election campaign, how credible will this be to the nation, and what will she do as president?
It is accurate to point out that Democrats have done far better the stronger they have been clearly opposing the Bush policies and clearly offering alternatives. From 2002 to 2004 to 2006 Democrats clearly did better running the kind of strong campaigns Gore believes in, and did worse running the kind of weak and maneuvering campaigns that Hillary stands for.
Even more profoundly, Gore understands that an oil-based economy creates hardship against New Hampshirites through price-gouging of gasoline and home heating oil, while creating the pollution that threatens the planet and the pressures for war that engulf the Middle East.
Eisenhower warned us about George W. Bush and what Ike called the military-industrial complex. That complex has now metastasized into the military-industry-oil-war profiteering complex that is promoted with a politics of fear and powered by a drive to stifle debate, intimidate dissenters and put core personal freedoms under attack in ways comparable to what happened in the era of Joe McCarthy.
These matters are all inter-related: Oil prices drive relentlessly towards $100 a barrel while pressures for war mount throughout the Middle East. Oil companies reap gigantic profits while wounded troops receive substandard support, Washington cannot find money for healthcare for little children, and New Hampshirites will be punished by high heating costs as the cold winter arrives.
How ironic: Fires rage through California while only a Republican candidate, John McCain, mentions that global warming might contribute to the extreme drought that foments the fires. How radical, that a European think tank now suggests we may have reached "peak oil" supplies that could foment even more war and instability, while not one Democrat, not Hillary, not Obama, not any of them, has raised the banner of global warming and the need for an Apollo-like alternative energy program in the manner Al Gore has.
Even when Gore prepares to accept the Nobel Prize for Peace, the Democratic candidates treat these issues as talking points for politics, not the fundamental global and patriotic mission that Al Gore challenges America to undertake.
Nor is this a coincidence: Congress fails to effectively challenge Bush on Iraq; Democrats, including the front-runner, vote for an Iran resolution offered by Joe Lieberman and promoted by advocates for war; and the
Democrats in Congress, who surrendered on civil liberties last August, now discuss whether to grant retroactive legalization to what could be mass violations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The truth is, the front-runner lacks the core convictions and political courage to stand foursquare against these wrongs. The main challenger lacks the stature and strength to take this fight to the country, Americans throughout the nation disapprove of the politics of fear of Bush and the fearful reaction of many Democrats, and Al Gore's strength in the CBS poll suggests he stands where Democrats want to be.
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Brent;
Again Great post. I know that Al won the Presidency in 2000 and his return to the top is well worth his efforts. If he should run again, I will vote for him again.
Comment by Mike Coleman — October 26, 2007 @ 4:01 pm
Here's a winning New Hampshire strategy for Al Gore: convert his private jet to consume maple syrup. A little known fact is that New Hampshire produces 90,000 gallons of maple syrup. While it's unlikely to solve the overall demand as private jets consume about one billion gallons of fuel a year, it can certainly meet Al's travel needs for I don't know, at least a month? Plus you bring some pancakes, add a little valve to the fuel tank, and what you got is a wonderful New England movable feast. Healthy, carbon-wise and politically savvy: that's Al Gore in a nutshell, and it could also be the description of his campaign.
Comment by Igor R. — October 26, 2007 @ 4:10 pm
Brent: Why don't you start writing Al Potter works of fiction where he waves his magic wand and becomes President and saves the environment at the same time. I didn't see him out in California trying to put out any fires there.
Comment by Robert Rosencrans — October 26, 2007 @ 7:13 pm
Isn't it puzzling that Hillary commands such a lead? Are the neocon fascists in charge of the Dem party too? It seems the fascists have hedged ($'s) quite a bit to Hillary and she will obviously oblige. Pitiful! Those fascist SOB's have hijacked both parties now.
Great post Brent. Keep it up, please. You got the nutballs (Igoe) worked in to a rhetorical frenzy. We all know how much the truth hurts those crazy neocons.
Read the crazy, non-sensical crap Igoe spewes above (#2). Geez, how much more intellectually challenged can these neocons get?
Igoe, you and Hillary are on the same page. Consider helping out her cause.
Comment by Chris in NM — October 26, 2007 @ 7:56 pm
Al Gore won the Presidency in 2000??? Really?????? Wow! Why would anyone concede something they worked so hard to win, unless they realized they really didn't win it at all.
Comment by John Simmons — October 26, 2007 @ 8:29 pm
As a Florida resident I was outraged when the Supreme Court interfered with our election in 2000. The US Constitution prohibits any branch of the Federal Government from such shenanigans unless voters rights is involved, but the media added to the fog talking about chads. I knew the Court had been bought, (Thomas' wife was hired to work on the Bush transition team and Scalia had two sons working for Olsens' law firm.) bought when the case was announced. Bush v. Gore. It wasn't Bush v. Gore it was Bush v. The Stated of Florida! They didn't dare name it right because the shredding of our most basic right, the right to vote without the Federal Government infringing on us, was lost that day and they didn't want us to know it. I hope he runs if only to give us the president we elected. I like the bumper sticker "Re-Elect Gore 2008″.
Al Gore has said global warming is a moral issue. If he means it, then that leaves only one relevant question. Does he believe he can do more to solve the problem as president or not. If he does, then he has a moral obligation to run.
Comment by David Morton — October 26, 2007 @ 9:04 pm
Al Gore is really anti environment because he flies in a private jet.
Comment by Chris Calbi — October 27, 2007 @ 8:42 am
You're right Brent, Al Gore stands right where democrats want to be; shoulder to shoulder with our enemies, the environmental crazies, the taxaholics like Rangel, the corrupt like Hillary,and the politics of "America is the problem" crowd. It is a big whiner campaign for the democrats. We need more taxes, we need to spend more and make decisions for YOUR children, we need to take money away from those bad bad corporations, we need to let those poor criminal illegal drug runners into our country, we need to stop profiling terrorists, wah, wah wah, without one solution. Pathetic is what Gore and the democrats are as well as out of touch…
Comment by Rich — October 27, 2007 @ 9:25 am
Gore is not (yet) sainted, of course, but . . .
. . . he is our very best hope. Period. And while it would be sweet to have him in a Cabinet post (existing or new), he cannot possibly wield more influence and direction than he can at the top. After the White House is thoroughly exorcised, I want Al Gore's new address for the next eight years to be 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We desperately need a grown-up at the helm. Gore has grown up (oh, fine, then, and out) more in the past seven years than all the rest of the field combined. I truly believe he can and will help us take back our country.
Comment by barbara — October 27, 2007 @ 11:56 am
GO GORE! IF only to knock Hillary and Bill off that pedastal they and the media have themselves on.
Check this out:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0924/p99s01-duts.html
The Christian Science Monitor
U.S. moves in Iraq may push Iraqi and Iranian governments closer
This is interesting…they may have something.
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Comment by Coonsey — October 27, 2007 @ 1:21 pm
It must be nice for a longshot candidate like AlGore to have a pundit for a paper like The Hill in his back pocket.
Comment by John Simmons — October 28, 2007 @ 9:12 am
Here we go with the election again. The citizens of Florida were too stupid to vote correctly, so the rest of us have to listen to them whine about it.
Comment by Robert Rosencrans — October 29, 2007 @ 8:46 am
Chris Calbi, that just make him a hypocrite. But if you don't believe that all the BS he is spouting has turned into a cult, look at people essentially calling for his sainthood here. It's amazing how much can be achieved with pure BS and good delivery. What he is is a master salesman: he wasn't born with a dynamic personality in terms of being a powerful speaker, but he trained himself to have crowds prostrating themselves in front of him an begging for more. Gotta give the guy his due: he is the worlds best showman.
Comment by Igor R. — October 29, 2007 @ 11:41 am
Al Gore did *NOT* win the presidency in 2000! He LOST!
Why do Democrats lie so much?
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/florida.ballots/stories/main.html
Florida recount study: Bush still wins
Comment by DFAL — October 30, 2007 @ 6:20 am
Brent:
Please convince Al to run. The country, and conservatives, need him.
Comment by JO E. — October 30, 2007 @ 8:46 pm
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/florida.ballots/stories/main.html
Read the report, The Florida Vote was messed up by all accounts, and the popular vote was still won by Gore.
In the upcoming Election, I hope that I will not have to 'write in' Al Gore when I am at the polls. Mr. Gore has the experience we need and his running mate could be either of the current leading Democratic Canidates. An interesting twist of fate would be a Gore-Clinton ticket, but I would prefer a Gore-Obama ticket. I think that both Clinton & Obama could benefit from 8 years as VP before trying to run for President.
Comment by JDKB — October 31, 2007 @ 7:46 pm
Two quick comments:
To John Simmons — why did Gore concede? Because, unlike our current President, he believes in the rule of law. Even though the Supreme Court decision was wrong — blatantly so, accordong to the vast majority of legal scholars — under our Constitution, it was the final word.
To DFAL — If you would read the story rather than the headline, you would see that if all the Florida votes had been counted, Gore would have won. Here's a quote from the very link you cite:
"Inclusion of overvotes
In addition to undervotes, thousands of ballots in the Florida presidential election were invalidated because they had too many marks. This happened, for example, when a voter correctly marked a candidate and also wrote in that candidate's name. The consortium looked at what might have happened if a statewide recount had included these overvotes as well and found that Gore would have had a margin of fewer than 200 votes."
Comment by Karl — November 1, 2007 @ 12:11 pm
I pray that Al Gore runs. How can all these nuts question his character. He is fighting for the greatest good of all mankind. Our earth. All the money, power, fame and rhetoric will mean nothing if we do not do something about the way we are treating this planet.
Do you not care that our polar ice caps are melting? Do you not know that these caps control the temperature of the earth. If these melt it could mean the end our civilization.
Please Al run for president. The world needs you.
Comment by Andreas — November 1, 2007 @ 6:12 pm
For Karl regarding why Al laid down for that patently unlawful and unconstitutional decision, it just might be that Al knew what was going down about the impending oil grab and decided he wanted to live a bit longer.
In the modern corporate culture, killing one man and making 100 billion dollars for your companys' stockholders is considered good business, if you can get away with it. The infamous Ford Pinto gas tank memo proves that well enough. They were willing to kill by inaction hundreds and settle out of court just to save 100 [u]million[/u] dollars.
The current administration has demonstrated they'll kill women and children with bombs (and call it "collateral damage") to achieve their ends. Perhaps Al had some inside information about past crimes that led him to believe his life was in danger.
Comment by David Morton — November 5, 2007 @ 2:37 pm
I would think it more than fitting if Al Gore, a man unprecedentedly qualified for the White House, who lost in 2000 in an unprecedentedly narrow, convoluted election, were to be, in 2008, actually drafted to the presidency - would be absolutely unprecedented, poetic justice for the Al Gore, and for the America People.
Comment by J. Bell — November 7, 2007 @ 2:11 pm