This very, very interesting piece of news was mentioned in a late update by JekyllnHyde in a great diary last night, but it is worth repeating and delving further into. First though, let me preface that I was really, really bummed when I read that Kristen Gore had said, "He's really not going to get in the race." That being said, Al has maintained that he has no "plans" to run and that he does not have to run a 500 day campaign.
So, with my hopes of a Gore run all but diminished and with no hints to be found anywhere, I stumbled upon this Laurie David interview (and subsequently the aforementioned diary). After seeing it, I'm reinvigorated about a potential Gore candidacy and again think he may indeed run. Check below the fold for the low down.
First off, it's not a stretch to conclude that Laurie and Al are good friends. They call each other, they've worked together, and they both admire each others' work in the environmental movement and elsewhere. Here's the "before" snapshot of her thoughts of a Gore candidacy, circa late February of this year:
"That's my fantasy would be for Al Gore to run," David said. "I believe -- think if he did run, he would win . ... Every time I bring it up with him and he's on his cell phone, he pretends like it doesn't work. He goes, 'Laurie, I'm sorry. I can't hear you.'"
I also recall David saying that she didn't think Al would jump into the race, but I don't have a link for that. Now, lets move to the "after" snapshot, circa yesterday:
Most notably, she says, "I don't personally believe that everyone is in the race yet" and "I'm going to wait until about October before I start talking about any specific candidates." What a coincidence...that's just the month that many believe Al will jump into the race. Likewise, there isn't anyone else besides the former Vice President she could be referring to when believing not everyone is in the race that will be...unless she has developed a tight bond with Newt that no one knows about.
When pressed about what it would take to get Gore into the race, she says that "it's early" and that "there probably isn't a day that goes by where he's not thinking about it." Now, this isn't some anonymous friend that is saying he is 50/50 about running - this is a named and legitimate friend of his saying he is seriously thinking about running.
The large applause the other night at the YouTube debate after the Gore video was played wasn't for the video, it was for the Al. The Democratic electorate and the electorate as a whole want to correct the mistake they made in 2000...we will not let you lose should you run Al.