RSSShould Gore run?
Mar 06
I’m torn on whether I think Gore should run again. I think he would have a very good chance to win. First of all, he’s proven he could get 50% of the vote, when his public image was pretty weak.
He would likely win the primaries very easily. A lot of people who might pick Hillary simply because they think she’s most “electable” would flock to Gore.
In the general election I think he’d have a very good shot considering his experience and his new energized public image.
But, on the other hand, the point he seems to be making is that he could do less for the environment as President. I kind of buy that because he’d have to worry about a lot of other stuff, including the disaster known as Iraq. Either way, it’s still interesting to watch all the speculation.
Mar 06, 2007 @ 14:46:56
“…pick Hillary simply because she’s most ‘electable’…”
Pardon? I was under the impression that Hillary is one of the least electable candidates. Many people are speculating that the Democrats’ worship of Barak Obama stems from a deep-seated belief that Hillary is unelectable. Obama is a new face, with no voting record or past scandals hanging over him.
Hillary has several problems, all of which seem to be the intentional tactics of a career centrist. She voted for the Iraq invasion and, despite what she says about the circumstances of that vote, the extreme left views her with the suspicion that she’s a female Joe Lieberman, whose voting record is strongly Republican despite his former party affiliation.
On the other hand, many of the Republican-refugees who’ve fled to the Democratic party temporarily until Bush is replace say they can’t support her because they still have bad blood with Bill, who’s very popular with the left but still demonized in the red states.
So is Al Gore more electable than Hillary? Or does he share Bill’s fate? Many in the red states still ridicule and demonize Gore (while they drive their half-ton gas-guzzling pickups and proclaim global warming is a hoax). Among those who’ve seen An Inconvenient Truth, Gore has become a sympathetic human with noble goals, finally breaking out of the stiffness that has plagued his reputation. But, deserving or not, his appeal isn’t broad enough to guarantee an election.
And isn’t that what all this is about? Choosing a candidate that is guaranteed to take the White House back is so important that no one person’s ego can be allowed to get in the way.
Mar 06, 2007 @ 14:53:10
She’s “electable” exactly because she is a centrist. Liberal people would vote for her because there’s no way they’d vote for a Republican. It always comes down to who can capture enough of the center undecideds. It’s a toss-up for her because her baggage would drive some of those people away but being centrist would capture some others.
Obama’s case is also interesting. He definitely will drive some of the undecideds away on account of being liberal. But, I think he might be able to capture some others if he manages to keep the visionary rock-star status he has now.