For People and Planet

Al Gore and his asset management partner from Generation Investment Management David Blood, write a feature article in today's Wall Street Journal. It is an excellent article. If you have a few minutes take the time to read it.

What Gore and Blood are talking about is that for capitalism to continue to provide the world opportunities then it must alter the way it has been doing business. They site several examples of companies designing products or changing their business model to create a "sustainable economy and society". These examples demonstrated how companies make money for their shareholders with this effort.

Not long after this article was published on line out came the response from the right wing. I wondered if they had actually read the article? That's because they couldn't get the salient points of the article down. Author Lisa De Pasquale took the most extreme position possible, and feebly attempted to insult the authors by calling their piece a "rant". Her article goes on to say that behind all of Gore's writings is "the purpose of which is putting businesses under control of radical Greens". Wow!! Lisa, calm down. Remember who's writing the article in the conservative Wall Street Journal? And, he's chairman of that capitalist sounding organization called Generation Investment Management. Same guy, Lisa.

Sometimes people become so overcome by their emotions they lose sight of were the center of gravity is on issues. This is a case in point. Al Gore is offering a very sensible idea on an important problem, which impacts all of us.

On another positive business note for Al Gore. Comcast has agreed to distribute Current TV, bringing the total number of homes reached to 28 million. Al Gore was not only a great V-P, who helped balance budgets, kept the country at peace, and raised the standard of living for all Americans, but now we see he's also a very good businessman. Wouldn’t he make a great President! Yes!!

Is Al Gore the Democrats' new Nixon?

After six years, former V-P is back on political radar

The conservative newspaper the National Post in Canada has an interesting and pretty through review of the '08 election for President. It is mostly about Al Gore and drawing the parallels to Richard Nixon's comeback to become President in 1968. One thing that the report misses is Nixon ran for the Governor of California after losing in 1960 to John Kennedy. After that election Nixon was so upset he said to the reporters, "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore". In other words this was Nixon's last election run. But that didn't turn out to be the case. He came back and won the republican nomination for President in the spring of '68 and went on to beat HHH in November. Another thing that the article misses is this: "Eight years later, at the height of American opposition to the Vietnam War, Nixon returned triumphant and soundly defeated Hubert Humphrey to become president of the United States." This is not exactly right. The election in 1968 was very close. Humphrey almost won, and Nixon was fading fast at the end. I am not sure why this paper misses this fact. Maybe they just missed it or they are reinventing history.

My sense is Gore is well liked by people. He is respected. Larry Sabato from Virginia says that some rather odd comments about Gore and his endorsement of Howard Dean before the 2004 election. Sabato may have been misquoted or maybe he misspoke but I don't agree that Gore lost his touch by coming out early for Howard Dean. It showed conviction and strength.

New Poll Out Says It Is Hillary Vs. Al Gore!

That's right, there is a new poll out tonight and it's been released by Fox. So, hold on to your wallets folks. Fox would love to have a race between Al Gore and Hillary. They'd love that! Why? Because they'd be able to spin the election just the way they want to.

In this poll, which has a 5% possibility of error says that Hillary Clinton is way out front of the pack. She is first and the former Vice President Al Gore is 2nd. We don't know how the polling people asked the question but my sense is it's in the ballpark. It may be close to the present condition; Hillary is ahead of Al.

My concern is two fold. One, Fox would love to develop false and negative paradigms about these two candidates. It also is the match up they'd love to see, man against woman, etc. etc. The other concern I have is that it isn't real. The first two caucuses in Iowa and Washington, DC aren't until January of 2008. Lots can happen between now and then.

I am concerned people are jumping on the Hillary bandwagon before they realize that the republicans believe she's the weakest of all the Democratic candidates. Oh, I'd vote for her and I have a tremendous amount of respect for her and the good things she's tried to do. But, here's the problem. Like a republican consultant told me on Capitol Hill recently, "she can get to 48% of the vote but she can't get beyond.” This is what Rove is hoping for; Hillary gets the nomination and then is not able to get above the base Democratic vote, and is not able to pull independent voters along to get her over 50%.

The Dems should be able to defeat any republican candidate after 8 years of this disastrous republican administration. Hillary probably could not do it. She will bring out the base of the other side. Her vote on the Iraq war will not help her.

It should be interesting. Go Al Gore!!

The New New Gore

The Daily Kos had it first today, when they announced that The American Prospect had a cover story on Al Gore. Kos said that he had not had a chance to read it yet but it looked good.

Well, I read it and it is good about Gore. I really like it because it is an unvarnished view of the man. It shows how strong Gore is as an intellectual thinker and leader. The article describes his many pursuits and interests. And, it renews the bidding on whether Al Gore will run for President in 2008 or not? We all hope he does run for President. He runs he wins! Read the article here.

Bye the way, check out this Daily Kos poll being run right now on Presidential Candidates. A couple of us have emailed each other and we suggest you vote for "Other", and people will know that that's a Gore vote.

News Analysis
Democrat Showdown 2008: Al Gore vs. Hillary Clinton
By Robert Novak
Mar 18, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Democratic insiders take seriously a possible new try for the presidency by Al Gore and say he is capable of raising more money than the presumptive front-runner, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Clinton's team has attempted to foreclose conventional Democratic money sources, drying up funding for her potential presidential rivals. She has $17.1 million cash on hand, more than any other possible candidate. Her current fund-raising tour is aimed at an additional $40 million.

However, party operatives believe former Vice President Gore can outdo Clinton through unconventional fund-raising on the Internet.

By campaigning left of Clinton, Gore appeals to ardent anti-war Democrats. Gore's first presidential run in 1988 positioned him as the centrist candidate, to the right of eventual nominee Michael Dukakis.

Democratic Congressman Pushes for Gore to Run Again

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

WASHINGTON — Democrat Al Gore, who in 2000 lost one of the closest presidential elections in U.S. history to Republican George W. Bush, should run for president in 2008, a congressman said Wednesday.

Questioned about the contest, Democratic Rep. Jim Moran of Virginia said: "I'd like to see him get into the race."

"He won the popular vote in 2000, and I think he's even stronger and more committed," Moran said Wednesday on C-SPAN's Washington Journal. "But you know, he's got his own life and it's his decision to make."

Gore has retreated into private life in Tennessee since his contested loss to Bush in the 2000 election. But the former vice president occasionally delivers spirited speeches criticizing Bush administration policies and promoting his views on foreign policy, the environment and other issues.

Last weekend, Gore returned to Florida where he lost the presidency by a few hundred votes to campaign for Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. During the trip, Gore jokingly referred to himself as "a recovering politician."

A spokesman for Gore had no immediate reaction to Moran's comments.

US government's cash running out

Why would the democrats do anything to help the republicias? The republicias got us into this mess so they must take responsibility for their actions.

Democrats need to stay united and not vote for the raising of the debt ceiling. Make the republicia party do it. They want the Democrats to appear to be part of the problem, but they are not. Guess who controls the House of Representatives, the US Senate and the White House? They also control the entire executive branch of the United States Government. They have also appointed more than half of all the Federal Judges and all but two of the Supreme Court Judges. It is that party which is responsible for our dire situation in so many areas, economic, militarily and socially.

Hang together like a team, and don’t go along with the republicias, make them do it.

A New Era For 2008 Primary Selection

The republcia party is in a stew right now. They are going to lose seats in both the House and Senate, and they will probably lose the White House in 2008. The NYTimes reports on these prospects here. But while this was going on in Memphis, the Dems were doing terrific things, here in Washington, DC. These changes will have a big interest for those in DC and the candidates who would like win the nomination. Al Gore has always been a friend to the citizens of Washington, DC.

The DNC voted yesterday to change the way candidates are selected for nomination in the Democratic Party. In the past it has been Iowa and N.H. going one two. They are not very representative of the U.S. as a whole. They are great states but we need more diversity in the selection process, so what the DNC did Saturday in the shadow of the US Capitol was an excellent move.

The DNC meeting which discussed and voted on the Report of the Commission on Presidential Nomination Timing and Scheduling was held a stones throw from the Capitol. The meeting was very well attended by three distinct groups: reporters, professional polls and the Commission members. It was fascinating to watch the outside of the room patrolled by the professionals, many of whom represent Democratic candidates for President. They wanted to learn what was going to be the schedule for the up coming primaries in 2008.

The press was there too. They appeared to me to really want to get the story right. This potentially will have a very big impact on how the race is run and will affect how the different candidates approach this election cycle.

I think it is good because we should not front load the process. Dems need to take their time in selecting a candidate. Also, the republicans are going to have a tough time with all the people running over there, so it is better for us to keep the process going, campaigning and letting the voters know about the failures of the republican and Bush administrations.

Open Thread - Your Comments Please

You know what? Here comes Al Gore!

You say, Dick Morris? Wow, I didn't think that he liked Al Gore but he writes a pretty positive article on Al Gore. And, it isn't just about Al Gore but Al Gore winning.

I really like how Morris lays out the race. Here's what he says about the 3 big candidates in the race, Al Gore, Hillary and Kerry. "The Democratic base's anger at Gore's defeat in 2000 was assuaged by the worse Kerry defeat of 2004. The idea he was an incompetent candidate has been replaced in Democratic iconography by the idea he was cheated out of the presidency. The hiatus has healed his reputation with the base in much the same way the negative rap on Nixon for losing in 1960 was ameliorated by the Goldwater wipeout of 1964." The fact of the matter is Al Gore won the 2000 election and was "cheated out of the presidency". No two ways about it.

Read the article here. It is very positive on Gore's chances. For me, Gore's the one. If Al Gore runs he wins.