And Al Gore Helps John McCain into the White House

So John McCain is moving towards a more moderate position so he can build himself up for the general election. And the way he is doing it is quite fascinating if not surprising.

First, his advisers can read polls and recognize the daunting right track/wrong track polling headwind that is gusting in their face.

Differences between Bush and McCain will be "discussed at great length," promises one aide.

"He'll be direct about it. He's never gratuitous, never disrespectful, but there are going to be policy breaks where it couldn't be clearer." Two areas of difference McCain will highlight: global warming and spending.

And why would John McCain be trusted on climate change? Perhaps because Al Gore is saying he should be trusted.

Gore's spokeswoman, Kalee Kreider, declined to comment on the Obama offer and was complimentary about the presidential candidates, including Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

"Former Vice President Gore thinks that both candidates are very strong. Both of them have offered plans to address the climate crisis ... as has Senator McCain," she said.

I asked Kreider why she is praising McCain, considering that Bush lied in 2000 about his intent to deal with climate change. Here's her response.

The key threshold issue for most NGO's and people working on climate, ourselves included are: Does the policymaker, work, support, vote in favor of, introduce legislation for mandatory reductions in pollution or not. McCain has, Bush has not.

And there we go. If you want to know why John McCain is trusted, it's not just that he has a base in the media. Democratic Party elders - including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton - just fall all over themselves to praise him (he's met the commander-in-chief threshold how, exactly?).

Al Gore has tried extremely hard to build a movement without politics, and it just isn't working. As a candidate, he tried to run without attacking Bush, and as a global icon, he has launched an apolitical TV channel and hosted a bunch of mega-concerts that didn't really advance the argument on climate change. And now that Republicans are poised to use climate change as an excuse to siphon money off to industry, Gore is jumping on the McCain bandwagon.

Better party elders, please.

Follow Matt Stoller on Twitter: www.twitter.com/matthewstoller

Comments

[Cathexis]

Undeservedly harsh, Mr Stoller.

Positive reinforcement when someone does something good, negative reinforcement when someone does something "not good." It's just basic interaction tactic, not some insightful revelation of treachery.

[Rescisco]

Gore bashing? That really is sooo yesterday. Also, as any casual and rational observer might note, global warming must become a non-partisan issue if we are to make any progress at all. That does not mean ignoring the lame excuses Republlcans have for not acting, but neither does it mean that we should bash them to the extent that we make it impossible for them to engage the issue seriously. Politicize this issue, and we lose any chance of ever moving on it.

[colleen2]

Matt Stoller is fond of trying to generate controversy in this manner. I'm a bit surprised to see him posting on blogs where he cannot ban those who disagree with his attempts at logic. What a brave boy

[shelleybear]

McCain has many reasonable ideas involving domestic policies.
HOWEVER these cost money.
Money he will (by some strange coincidence) find we do not have due to the war in Iraq that he continues to support.
In other words, more empty Republican promises.

[Meah]

I thought this was a free country, and Al Gore was entitled to say what he wants to say.
He knows the man, and probably likes him, despite McCain's whacked out temper. This is a non-story.

[BillZBubb]

Wow. let's attack Al Gore too now since he obviously isn't Democratic enough to know that Obama is the only TRUE candidate!

But wait a minute, isn't being respectful of McCain part of Obama's "new politics"--isn't Obama and all his diehard faithful claiming to be insistent on working with all parties without the "old political rancor"? I thought it was "change you can believe in". Maybe his followers don't really believe it.

[argyle73]

"Change you can believe in" is just the motto that Rezko and his band of political insiders came up with to sell Obama to all the people outside of Chicago once it became clear that Gov. Blagojevich was going down and could not run for president (which they had been grooming him to do).

Obama's "new politics" is just the smokescreen, or sugar, to shield him from attacks. That people are ignorant of Obama's place in Chicago cess-pool politics is too bad. It goes to show that we are living in an Animal Farm world.

[tryharder2think]

your gonna have to try harder...

your lies don't stick to anyone but yourself.

what's gonna happen when you realize that that is all you have built your self upon.

i welcome the day you see truth.

try harder 2 think

[Kally]

The person helping McCain into the white house is obama. And the funny thing is, his supporters know it. That's why they are so hateful and vile, lying their lies trying to get people to hate Hillary.

[Meah]

Listen, Kally, people are sick of the garbage that Hillary and McCain are dishing out. We are sick of the lying. We are sick of the warmongering. I am not hateful and vile. I am simply sick of what has happened to our country, and those two will be the same as it has been. Even Hillary thinks she can just talk about massive retalliation in Iran. Madness. We are sick of the vile, lying madness!

[AlwaysFairDem]

Same old Politics. Status Quo will not change...especially when you have your own money invested in Green that has made you $50Million just last year. Money is the evil of all thing if you ask me.

[REJames50]

The “Myth” of Global Warming
In an April 15th letter to the Tennessean, Kenneth Ray marvels at our recent cold snap, our annual “Dogwood Winter,” to de-bunk “global warming acolytes.”
Mr. Ray, meteorologists tell us there is a relatively stable “dome” of cold air that hovers over the poles. Now, whereas there are vicious storms under these domes, the interplay with the lower latitudes is limited, occurring primarily in winter. As the Arctic melts, this exchange increases, and we may be threatened by frost in the growing season. You see, weather in a thawed ocean migrates best over warmer, open water, and poorly over any frozen topography. For example, many hurricanes originate in Africa, and often cross “the pond,” to hit this continent.
The earth mother, “Gaia,” is gravid, this being the optimal epoch for our species, till we screw it up. With the gift of the hands and the intellect, art, atomic bombs and global warming were all anticipated. Faith is not so much a one-way street, or even something that springs from each person, as much as it a reflection of a thing that was here long before us. And, why be a caretaker of an environment when the benefits will mostly accrue after I’m gone? “God” lent me this small piece of time and place, and, as such, I am commissioned as a citizen of the planet and a citizen of eternity.

[pmag88]

McCain may legitimately care about climate change but it will receive short shrift in ANY republican administration.. Further, of the republicans who claim to believe there is a looming climate crisis and are for resolving it, I'm pretty sure it's mostly electioneering. For those who are sincere, I apologize.

Between the war, the economy,climate change, and health care, republicans have earned a time out. They were once the party of Lincoln and Eisenhower and there is no reason they must remain SLAVES to their neocon/neoliberal masters. There is no shame in being wrong and starting over.

[Thorwald]

We must remember... Global warming is far more important than an American election. I applaud Gore for bringing the Republicans to the table. The foundation of the Republican party still doesn't believe in this crisis (Tom Delay). I don't think John McCain will champion global warming and I don't think it will win him a vast amount of votes. I do however get joy out of knowing that there will be a lot of Republican strategists learning a comprehensive amount of information on a subject that we all need to learn more about. Imagine a general election debate where Obama and McCain are trying to out green the other... Ah what dreams may come.

[TimmySlagle]

"hosted a bunch of mega-concerts that didn't really advance the argument "

Advance the ARGUMENT?

I thought "the debate is over?"

[RonnieDebb]

Hehe, this will keep the republicans home. According to them global warming is a myth right?

[Mike O.]

Republicans vote with our minds, not our hearts. We never "stay home" because to do so would compromise our chances of victory. Republicans think about the big picture. Dont' you liberals ever pay attention?

McCain's stance on "Climate change" will not affect us one way or the other. We don't need to agree on everything, just the big things. Conservatives don't deny that the climate may be changing, we just know that "Man Made Global Warming" is a myth and that knee-jerk reactions to "fix" what we can't control will lead to major problems downstream. Have you visited the grocery store lately? The push to bio-fuels has helped to create a global food crisis.

The problem with you liberals is that you're blinded by your arrogance. You believe that man is the most powerful force on earth. We're not. We're just another insignificant parasite as far as the earth is concerned.

If liberals were actually interested in the truth about "climate change", they would ask why the U.N. has now admitted that the "hockey stick" graph showing a global average temperature increase is wrong. That graph was the basis for the theory. If the graph is wrong, the theory is wrong.

Such fools.

[mistlesuede]

It's 89 degrees in Buffalo today, April 19th! We had the warmest summer and fall ever in 2007 with each year being warmer than the last before that. Our perennial flowers are blooming, and dying a least one month before they should and there are more signs everywhere you look, if you look.
Those of you who don't or WON"T see it are the fools. You don't have to be a scientist to see what's happening. You may consider yourself an insignificant parasite, heck I consider you one too.
We should be taking care of God's glorious creation, and repair it before it's too late.
You are the fool.

[kingcityguru]

Temperatures have been DROPPPING since 1998 and we just went through the coldest winter in 20 years (not just in the US but everywhere!!). Global waming is a fraud. Time for you to find another god to worship.

[Necron99]

I can haz peer reviewed linkz now?

[Clarke]

That's not true. Not that you care, of course, I just thought I'd point it out.

[monty]

Uh, Global Warming does not mean all places on Earth are getting hotter, it means more EXTREMES in weather, like VERY HOT or VERY COLD. Geez, do a little reading or something.

[kingcityguru]

Read your sentence again. It is MORONIC.
So Global Warming results in extreme weather like "VERY COLD?" You know, now that I think about it there is that spot in my oven that always ices over while cooking dinner which is similar to that spot in my freezer that is so hot you can cook an egg.

Duh! At least get your dogma correct for your crazy religion. The bottom line is that the earth has gone through heating and cooling cycles (my SUV did not melt the last ice age) and if it is warming (which it is not), warming is better than cooling because it results in longer growing seasons (more food), less disease, and a better quality of life (if you disagree, go check the arctic for levels of disease and food production).

[JoInCalifornia]

I wish we would stop politicizing any scientific topic. Apparently temperatures have been dropping, and the computer models were incorrect. Why can't we discuss something this important like thinking adults who use reason to solve problems?

[Liberal2]

Gee that's odd. I've read global temperatures have been rising, with a series of hotest summers on record.

Of course, if temperatures are dropping, glaciers should be expanding, glacial run-off slowing, icesheets stablizing....are they?

Idunno, could you just be a liar trying to make its mother proud?

[Viper]

Look there are plenty of reasons not to back McCain. The man needs Lieberman in his ear to talk about the area he is suppose to be an expert in. On spending... if he is not going to cut the WAR or defense budget... there are no cuts to be made except at home... spending that benefits Americans and at a time when our schools are failing and our infrastructure is crumbling.

He is the biigest free trader ever and we cant the jobs we lost and are losing back per him.... which means you cant keep the jobs you still have. So much for solving trade deficits and the loss of high paying jobs. You cant balance the budget if those making high wages are less ... thats less tax revenue and yet you are going to cut taxes.. been tried for 7 years and the results.... the dollar is worth 60% less as is Americans real netwroth and stock market portfolios and their houses.

The REPUG Idealogy does not allow for solutions. FREE MARKET while our jobs go to non free market countries such as Choina and India with huge tarrifs on what little we have to export. Only 10% of pour exports go to countries oter than Canada, Mexico and Europe. Our biggest export...scrap!

McCain is too old.


Regards.

[Kungfublood]

AS you may or may not remember Gore had indigenous people living on their land in South America threaten to commit mass suicide because the company he owned oil stock in was going to take their land and ruin it drilling for oil .When asked about it on national TV he laughed about it and changed the subject. So in my view he is one of the worlds biggest hypocrite and possibly a mass murder (I don't know if they all died or not do you? And are you laughing?)

[Mike O.]

Al Gore is a hypocrite as is every liberal that I know personally. The ends justify the means because liberals have no core values or belief system. They tend to be narcissistic children, concerned only with their own well-being.

[mistlesuede]

That is the most assinine thing I've heard yet. Al Gore spending all of his time and money going around the world trying to get people to change their habits and make sure that this world is still here for our descendants is and suffering fools like you is BEING CONCERNED ONLY WITH HIS OWN WELL BEING?
You probably voted for Bush twice too?