Nobel Prize energizes 'Gore for '08' movement

But former vice president shows no signs of running.

from the October 13, 2007 edition

Page 2 of 2

Page 1 | 2

The Nobel citation called Gore "probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted."

Gore says he will donate his share of the $1.5 million prize to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a an advocacy group based in Palo Alto, Calif., that Gore chairs.

Meanwhile, the draft-Gore movement – a loose agglomeration of national and state groups, listed at http://www.americaforgore.org – has also seized the Nobel moment. Recently, in anticipation of Gore's winning the prize, Draftgore.com put out a call for funds to run the full-page "Open Letter to Al Gore" in the New York Times and raised the $65,000 needed in two weeks. Now that he has won, the group is running an online petition to gather signatures urging Gore to run.

"We now have over 173,000 signees, and they're just coming in lickety-split after the announcement," says Andrea Ronhovde, a Draftgore.com board member. "The money is coming in fast and furious, so I imagine there will be advertising campaigns of sorts."

Some state groups are now gathering signatures to get Gore on the ballot in time for the primaries. Gore himself has not been in touch with the groups, but as some supporters have noted, he has not told them to stop, either.

Ms. Ronhovde, a retired social worker who volunteered for Gore during the 2000 campaign and tried to get him to run again in 2004, says the continued appeal of a Gore presidency goes beyond what that would mean for advancing his global-warming agenda. "The Assault on Reason," she says, shows that he's thinking big about the future of the United States and the world. The book lays out not just a blistering indictment of the Bush administration but also a critique of America's entire political system, including blame for the media and its obsession with trivia.

Perhaps the only way for Gore to shut down the draft effort once and for all is to make an endorsement in the presidential race. He recently told the Harvard-focused magazine 02138 that he would endorse one of the Democrats. But more recently he told CNN that he was not sure.

Political analysts would be surprised if he were to endorse Clinton, given the tensions during their time together in her husband's administration. An endorsement of her top rival, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, or any other Democrat, would make for a big headline but probably would not have a huge impact on the race. Four years ago, Gore's endorsement of Howard Dean was seen as a negative for the former Vermont governor.

Some analysts say endorsements don't mean a lot in the presidential sphere. "They can give a candidate a base level of credibility, but Barack Obama and John Edwards don't need credibility from Al Gore," says Democratic pollster Mark Mellman, who is not affiliated with a presidential candidate.

Another possibility for Gore would be to run for president in 2012. After all, the Democrats don't have a lock on retaking the White House in 2008, and Gore is still a relatively young man.

1 | Page 2