It's a sad thing to say, but, for me, Bush has so politicized the tragedy of September 11, that I am somewhat deliberately avoiding domestic news today. Happily, I found a cheerful headline in today's The Independent,U.K. (
http://news.independent.co.uk/....):
Gore says he hasn't ruled out running for president
As Steven D diaried earlier, Gore arrived in Australia on September 10 for the local premiere of his global warming movie, "An Inconvenient Truth". Although the import of Gore's movie was summarily dismissed by right wing Prime Minister John Howard, the press took more of an interest in Gore's presence.
The Independent quotes Gore as saying:
"I haven't completely ruled out running for president again in the future but I don't expect to. I offer the explanation not as an effort to be coy or clever. It's just the internal shifting of gears after being in politics almost 30 years. I hate to grind the gears."
The reporter added:
Gore said there was no doubt the impact of global warming would be best addressed through the power of the presidency, but making a documentary was second best.
Along with Neuvo Liberal, I suspect I'm probably one of the site's biggest Gore fans. I follow his comments carefully, and in the statements above I detect a subtle shift in wording. It's fairly well known that Gore is comfortable in the political arena;he just doesn't like the campaigning part of the electoral process. I suspect this is true of most politicians who still retain some idealism about the job. Even John Edwards, in his audience conversation at Gnomedex, admitted that it's difficult to remain sincere on the political trail when the old shibboleths are so strongly ingrained (by the campaign advisors?).
My personal read is that Gore understands that there remains a large base of voters anxious to see him as president, and that few people understand better the severe crisis our country is experiencing. I agree that he's not being coy, but, like Feingold, he's simply waiting to see how the mid-terms play out and whether or not the Dems, if they become a majority again in November, can be effective in charting a different course. IMO, Gore has to be taken seriously as a candidate at this point.