WTOP Radio
reports
Updated: Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2005 - 9:23 AM
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Former Vice President Al Gore said Wednesday he had no intention of ever running for president again.
"I have absolutely no plans and no expectations of ever being a candidate again," said Gore, who lost the 2000 election to President Bush.
However, Gore did not completely shut the door to political endeavors.
"I don't completely rule out some future interest, but I don't expect to have that," he said during a visit to Sweden.
My read is that Gore wants to run, but is not willing to commit as yet.
Update 2: Guardian (UK) has a more complete version of this interview
here. I have added this at the end of the diary. The longer version is an important read.
Update: User "Patriot for Al Gore" posted this
diary on this statement from Al Gore.
Please see below the fold for my new 2008 poll, and some grapevine (or should I say "Gorevine"? :)) from John Podesta and Arianna Huffington regaring the prospect of a Gore run in 2008.
While on the subject, the number of voices talking about or calling for Gore to run is increasing.
Apparently, John Podesta, one-time chief of staff for former President Bill Clinton, considers Hillary Clinton and Al Gore to be the frontrunners for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.
Arianna Huffigton, in her HuffPo post from today asks: 2008: Will Al Gore Be the Anti-Hillary?
Here are some excerpts from her post:
It's still three years away but Hollywood is already starting to choose sides for 2008. And two very distinct camps have started to form:
those backing Hillary, and those desperately searching for the anti-Hillary.
...
The Hollywood insiders who are not going the Hillary way are not ready to go public yet (I'm sure some of them will even be at the Hillary fundraisers this weekend). But, in private conversations, a growing number of them say they are determined to find another candidate to support.
...
.. they've had enough of Hillary's attempt to rebrand herself as a fence-straddling DLC Dem. They're tired of the relentless strategic triangulating ..
But most of all, they are put off by her bellicose support for the war in Iraq -- which has, at times, left her sounding more like a White House shill than a viable opposition candidate.
Exacerbating the problem is that, when it comes to Iraq, Hillary is telling Hollywood donors whatever they want to hear.
...
But a growing number of Hollywood insiders are refusing to buy into this "wink, wink," "I'm just saying it for the yokels" routine.
.. "We kept our mouths shut and fell behind Kerry but, to quote the Who, 'We won't get fooled again.'"
The big question then becomes, who will be the candidate of the anti-Hillary crowd? Russ Feingold's out-front stance on Iraq has earned him some early attention from, among others, Brad Whitford and Tommy Schlamme. Norm Pattis of Westwood One Radio had a fundraiser for Joe Biden.
But more and more, the Hollywood buzz is centering on Al Gore.
"He's been strongly against the war since the beginning," a big Dem donor who is hoping to convince Gore to run told me, "and with gas prices going through the roof and killer hurricanes wreaking havoc, he's the gold standard on global warming, alternative energy, and the environment. What's not to like?"
And Lawrence Bender, who after producing "Kill Bill" is now producing what I hear is a killer documentary featuring Gore and his fight to get our country to take action on global warming, told me that the former VP "would be a hell of a candidate. Unlike 2000, he's now clearly very comfortable in his own shoes. Bold, passionate, committed, and very funny. It's been amazing working with him."
For now Gore is focusing on Current TV, and delivering yet another combustible, populist speech.
The idea of Gore vs Clinton in 2008 certainly presents a wealth of delicious story lines: The former Number 2 running against his Number 1's wife. Gore taking down Hillary as payback for the pall Monicagate cast over 2000. Gore as "the new New Nixon" (Gore will be the same age in 2008 as Tricky Dick was in 1968). Automaton Al remaking {Ed. Note: Grrrr} himself as progressive firebrand. Passion vs. polling.
.. Democrats "stick to our themes" and "all speak with the same voice."
But will that voice sound like Hillary -- or will it sound like Al?
Update addition: Here is the fuller version of Gore's interview, from this
link.
Gore: I Don't Plan to Run for President
Wednesday October 12, 2005 6:46 PM
AP Photo STO804
By MATTIAS KAREN
Associated Press Writer
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Former Vice President Al Gore said Wednesday he had no intention of ever running for president again, but he said the United States would be ``a different country'' if he had won the 2000 election, launching into a scathing attack of the Bush administration.
``I have absolutely no plans and no expectations of ever being a candidate again,'' Gore told reporters after giving a speech at an economic forum in Sweden.
When asked how the United States would have been different if he had become president, though, he had harsh criticism for Bush's policies.
``We would not have invaded a country that didn't attack us,'' he said, referring to Iraq. ``We would not have taken money from the working families and given it to the most wealthy families.''
``We would not be trying to control and intimidate the news media. We would not be routinely torturing people,'' Gore said. ``We would be a different country.''
Gore did not elaborate. But last year, he blamed Bush administration policies for the inmate abuse scandal at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
Mike Feldman, Gore's spokesman, did not immediately comment on Gore's remark when reached by phone in Washington.
Tracey Schmitt, spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, called Gore's comments ``fictitious rants that border on dangerous.''
``To accuse Americans of participating in 'routine torture' is absurd and reveals that while Al Gore may no longer be a leader in his party, he still embodies the maniacal anger that guides Democrat leaders in Washington today,'' Schmitt wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
Gore also reiterated his criticism that the Bush administration was too slow in responding to the crisis in New Orleans after the city's levees failed during Hurricane Katrina. He said that should have been predicted.
``There were specific warnings that the levees might break,'' he said. ``But for whatever reason those warnings were not acted upon in a timely way.''
He said the United States and other countries are similarly ignoring the threats that global warning pose to the environment.
``My country is extremely attentive to the slightest increase in a risk from terror, and that's appropriate,'' he said. ``But why should we be so tolerant of risk where the future habitability of our planet is concerned?''
Gore, who now runs a cable TV channel and is the chairman of an investment company, did not completely shut the door to future political endeavors.
``I don't completely rule out some future interest, but I don't expect to have that,'' Gore said.
He declined to comment on New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's possible run for the White House in 2008, but he said he believes the country is ready for a female president.
``Of course a woman could get elected president,'' he said. ``I am not going to make any comment on individual candidates. It's quite premature.''