This diary admittedly serves no practical purpose. But 'hope' is in vogue these days, so why not speculate and wish to my heart's content? (My bias should be clear enough.)
Here's why I think Gore will endorse Edwards:
- Edwards has made combatting climate change more central to his campaign than any of the other democrats, routinely including it as one of the things Americans should 'be patriotic about.' This no doubt helped earn him the reportedly significant "Friends of the Earth" endorsement. Another recent example of his committment to the issue is his attendance, along with Hillary Clinton and Dennis Kucinich, of "Global Warming & America's Energy future," a recent forum organized by Grist magazine and Public Radio International's Living on Earth and endorsed by a coalition of environmental organizations. (Few predict a Gore endorsement of Hillary, though I wouldn't rule it out. A Kucinich endorsement seems unlikely, but I won't comment further. Most notable here is Obama's absence.)
- He needs it.
- Edwards has transformed himself from a moderate into a progressive populist. Some doubt his sincerity, others credit soul-searching instigated by Elizabeth's cancer diagnosis. I believe he's sincere, but I don't mind if there's an element of opportunism there - I read recently in some blog or other that politicians tend to act on their sense of where their opportunities lie, which seemed to me a reasonble observation. In any case, the media have not generally treated Edwards or his apparent transformation well. Both the 'transformation' issue and the experience of ill treatment by the media would appear to give Gore cause to identify with Edwards. More significant, I hope, is the pair's current closeness on progressive policy issues.
- Edwards was reportedly the final runner-up to Lieberman in Gore's 2000 VP selection (NYT article, 6/19/04). This would appear to be a good indication of Gore's long-standing, high regard for Edwards.
I thought I had one more good "reason to hope," but it escapes me at the moment.