Hello all,
I work at The American Prospect and I wanted to tell you about our next cover story. It's not on newsstands yet, but you can read it online: www.prospect.org/gorereborn. And before I start, let me thank Maryscott for a great entry you can find here. We appreciate the support! I want to supplement that with the info that's after the jump to
- provide simple bullet points for anyone who wants to write about the prime nuggets in the article
- provide references of people who were waiting for a Gore cover article (so that we can prove it's part of a movement and not an isolated story)
- touch base with the Kos community before going to the larger traditional media.
Please check out after the jump for this info.
Could 2008 unfold as a suspenseful drama for the soul of the Democratic Party, one in which a candidate who embodied our bitterest disappointments of recent years enters stage left to deliver a happy ending? As Ezra Klein details in the cover story in the April edition of The American Prospect, Al Gore could emerge in this starring role and many who once wrote him off are taking notice. Klein gives us a picture of the candidate of the future, now:
www.prospect.org/gorereborn. He explains how the internet invented Gore 2.0, how he is the heir to a future anti-Hillary insurgency, and why we'll all be talking about him as the 2008 primary season really heats up.
How will new media affect campaigns of the future? Ask Al Gore. The man who endorsed Howard Dean's decentralized campaign has been using similar tactics in new ways. He has:
- With the help of MoveOn.org, he's bypassed the media filter and talked directly to millions of potential supporters,
- Learned and converted to the Dean model, inspiring many in the blogging community, ("[O]ne of the things that attracted him to the Dean campaign was that he looked and saw that, `Holy shit, these guys are running the campaign I wanted to run.'" -Joe Trippi)
- Started Current TV - rather than a left-wing Fox News, his station is all about showing home-made quality content,
- Released "An Inconvenient Truth," his movie on global warming that received a standing ovation at Sundance and is surprising fans because (gasp!) he's very engaging and witty,
- Inspired a wave of speculation on the right and the left, with pundits and fans waiting to see his plans for 2008 (see quotes below).
The Gore phenomenon was waiting to happen, but this new incarnation wouldn't have been possible without a full-on embrace of the technology that people like us use every day to disseminate information and create community.
Klein's piece not only heralds the post-Dean star of new media, it also lays out a believable 2008 scenario. While other candidates bash each other, Hillary will be sucking the air out of the room and gathering up all the establishment money. Bloggers and other progressives will be woefully without their candidate. But Gore will be uniquely positioned to take up our mantle due to the infrastructure he's been building since 2000.
Expect to see more of the DraftGore.com-style sites popping up. Because we have seen the future and the future is us. And Al Gore may just be our candidate.
www.prospect.org/gorereborn
###
It's not just The American Prospect! Listen to what others are saying:
- "The question is, Who [can beat Hillary]? ''This sounds absolutely strange coming from me, because I never in life thought I would utter these words again,'' [Donna] Brazile says, ''but Al Gore.
The New York Times
- "I'd like to give him another shot at it," [Jim] Moran (D-VA) said.
The Washington Post
- "Mark my words, the two big names you're not hearing now but will be in 2008 are Newt Gingrich and Al Gore. This movie he's bringing out will change everything for him."
Howard Fineman (Newsweek) on Chris Matthews
- "The "Draft Gore" movement seems to be picking up momentum. Our own Ryan Lizza kicked it off late last year... I await the Newsweek cover story."
The New Republic Online
- "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... [P]arty 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.
Robert Novak