Like many who have written for this site, I've been excited by the reemergence of Al Gore as a public figure and a potential presidential candidate.
Gore has been right on some of the most important issues of our time. Unlike far too many Congressional Democrats, he was one of the first public figures to oppose the Iraq War before it started--and he rightfully predicted the quagmire which it has become. While most Congressional Democrats have lain down in the face of Bush's lawless and unconstitutional expansion of executive power, Gore has spoken out passionately for the rights of a free people. And of course Gore has traveled the nation and the world, warning anyone who would listen of the dangers of global warming to our very civilization.
Further, many of us believe, Gore has already been elected President once before. It may take the country years, or decades, to recover from the damage that has been done by Bush election by a 5-4 vote of the Supreme Court.
Still...both for Gore himself, and for those of us who would consider supporting him for President, Gore should bide his time before he considers announcing a Presidential run.
The longer Gore can continue speaking out as a private citizen, the better chance he has of convincing the MSM and the public that he is a man who speaks from his heart, not just another politician who's every move is poll-tested, managed and scripted. There is something quite touching about the former Vice President trudging through airports lugging his global warming slide show behind him. As a private citizen, Gore projects a stature that in many ways will drop away as soon as he becomes a declared candidate. Moreover, he has a greater chance of keeping some of that stature if he is in a sense "drafted" to run by the grassroots, rather than just pursuing a personal quest for power.
Remember, Bobby Kennedy did not even become a candidate until March, 1968, after the New Hampshire primary was already over. Given today's front-loaded primary schedule, Gore could not wait that long to declare. But he has the standing, support and fundraising ability to announce late and immediately be catapulted into the front ranks of Presidential contenders in either party. If shortly before the Iowa caucuses, the race is emerging as Hillary and the Seven Dwarfs, Gore would draw immediate support from large segments of the Democratic electorate. He could quickly raise money both through a grassroots internet campaign, and from major donors who have supported him in the past.
Moreover, I believe Gore when he says that at this point he doesn't want to run and prefers his role as private citizen. A reluctant Gore, pulled into the race by a massive grassroots movement, allows Gore to remain an idealistic citizen who is overcoming personal reservations to serve his country.
Waiting would also delay the attempted swift-boating of Al Gore and give the media and the public more time to see the reemergence of Gore from behind his former political handlers.
While the liberal blogosphere may be enamored with the "new" Gore, he's meeting a decidedly mixed response from the MSM, and most voters out there are not even aware of the reemergence of Al Gore. While "An Inconvenient Truth" has received many good reviews, it has also been met with suspicion in the media. Even while praising its message, many are calling it a cleverly timed ploy for Gore to throw his hat into the presidential race. This inference was not helped by the parts of the film where Gore again talks about the near loss of his son and the loss of his sister, and where he's shown walking around his father's farm which is decidedly a "gentlemen's" farm. Gore has used these references in prior campaigns to not necessarily good effect.
And some of the long knives in the right-wing swift-boating faction are already sharpened. In an LA Times column, National Review editor Jonah Goldberg all but calls Gore a liar when he told Arianna Huffington that his first trip to Cannes was in the summer of his 15th year when he came to improve his French and study the existentialists. Goldberg points out that that according to a major biography Gore spent his 15th summer working on his father's farm. He all but calls Gore a serial liar and exaggerator. (10 days later, the Times printed a short correction confirming that Gore spent the first part of his 15th summer in France and the second part on the farm.) As foolish as Goldberg's nasty insinuations may actually have been, one has to wonder whether Gore still has a case of political tone deafness. Speaking French and studying the existentialists are hardly qualities which are likely to endear him to the American voter.
Moreover, right now Gore has terrible favorability/unfavorability ratings. While Hillary Clinton, who many fear is unelectable, has, according to Fox News, 50% favorable/42% unfavorable ratings, Al Gore's ratings are even worse at 41% favorable/45% unfavorable.
It is much more difficult to change a voter from unfavorable to favorable than it is to change a voter from undecided to favorable.
For all these reasons, if Gore spends more time as a non-politician, it may help spread the view of Gore as a passionate, funny, relaxed and grounded man, both to the MSM and to the public. The comparison between the disastrous last 5 ½ years under President Bush and what might have been under President Gore may become increasingly relevant.