Just in case you didn't think there were enough Democratic Presidential Candidates, those that are voting in the California Democratic Primary on February 5th seem likely to have another choice: Al Gore.
The effort to put Gore on the ballot is definitely picking up steam, and they are going to be all over the state next week as the period in which they are allowed to collect signatures begins.
For full disclose, I am involved in this effort, and as a matter of fact I first pointed out the relevant laws at the beginning of the year. I was unavailable over the summer, but the idea was picked up by Roy Gayhart who built an amazing grassroots effort that is going to be successful and has started to get some attention.
Last week they put out their own press release, and this week Roy was interviewed for a Raw Story article.
The task itself is pretty easy, if it is well organized: collecting 500 signatures of registered Democrats in each of the 53 congressional districts. From what I have seen of the organization they are easily going to have that. They have set up district coordinators in each and every congressional district, and they continue to attract volunteers.
I always say that the Democratic Party has an embarrasement of riches in Presidential Candidates for 2008, but for these volunteers, Gore is still their first choice. For them he represents something that is still not captured completely by any one of the other candidates.
But bottom line, what does it all mean? They hope that this will help spark a Gore run. But what if it doesn't?
Well... the latest poll that I can find for California that includes Gore (June 2007) pegs his support at 19% (page 23; n=431, error=5%), behind Clinton (35%) and statistically tied with Obama (20%). Asked who their second choice would be, it was split between Clinton (41%), Obama (25%), and Edwards (12%).
Nationally, there are a slew of polls in September, giving Gore support ranging from 8% to 16%. And he isn't running at this point, so come primary season, I expect that these numbers would hold, even if he doesn't run.
And there are other states that are doing the same thing. There is a long list of dates and deadlines in this dkos diary. The first one with a deadline is Michigan, where Gore leads an August poll with 36%! Their deadline is October 23rd. They really don't have an excuse, if they can't get him on the ballot!
California has a 2 month window to collect the signatures they need by December 4th. Looking at what they have on the ground, I don't see how they could be anything but successful. And that means that Gore will likely earn delegates to the Democratic National Convention from California, if nowhere else. All he needs is 15% of the vote in California.
An interesting prospect for what should already be an exciting convention. Of course, Gore retains the right to remove himself from the California ballot by writing to Debra Bowen, but he hasn't done anything so Shermanesque yet.
And then the ultimate wild card could come from the Nobel Prize announcement next Friday. Yup. Next week should be interesting.