I heard Al Gore give one helluva speech in Berkeley yesterday, and it left little doubt in my mind that he is running for president.
Why? Because he can win. And what politician save Sherman has ever turned the job down?
Photo links and further observations below the fold.
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Gore profile
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Gore and the Secret Service are the only ones wearing ties in this crowd.
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Preacher shot--still some weight to lose
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My Students for McGovern colleague Tom Bates, Mayor of Berkeley.
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Local news coverage with some quotes.
Gore's wooden manner is a distant memory; even the oil company flack quoted in the S.F. Chronicle called Gore's speech "passionate," and it was.
Dressed in an expensive, well-tailored blue suit and with an equally expensive haircut, Gore delivered his professionally crafted speech with such controlled fervor that he could have persuaded an atheist police reporter to walk up front, confess his sins, and submit to full-immersion baptism.
His sense of humor, rarely evident in the past, broke through with a very clever transition from last week's speech on space to a slap at the GOP. Some of the young space enthusiasts had proposed escaping a polluted planet to live in outer space:
"Yeah, right. We couldn't even get out of New Orleans...or at least the current administration couldn't."
Gore owns the global warming issue and is leading, not following, on it. And with it, he completely trumps the ridicule that was dumped on him in the past. "Laugh if you want," his words imply, "but it's your planet that's burning up."
I don't think I've seen a warmer, more emotional stump speech since the days of Hubert Humphrey, the happy warrior. Arms flying, eyes flashing, and even a trace of Tennessee back in his voice, this is a candidate who unquestionably has learned from his experience.
"These are hard political problems," he quoted unnamed DC insiders, and then responded, with a definite evangelical fire, "These are not political problems, these are moral imperatives!"
His argument has a populist flavor, with an attack on Big Oil that simply has to be a universal crowd-pleaser, except perhaps on board the supertanker Condalezza Rice
With global warming, energy/environmental issues are no longer a matter of "let your conscience be your guide." Ending energy dependence is a matter of self-interest, and voter self-interest is what rules elections.
George Lakoff and Steve Bing were in the audience, perhaps the germ of a speechwriting and fundraising team.
Secret service presence enhanced Gore's dignity. He looked and acted like the next president of the United States.
And by the way, he omitted dropped his signature introduction, "I'm Al Gore and I used to be the next president of the United States."
I don't think he's kidding around any more.