This week's McLaughlin Group is a must see. Lots of coverage of the increasing talk of impeaching Bush. But more significant to me was the discussion of Gore.
The first pundit (Steve something, sorry I missed his last name - not one of the regulars) said he was confident Gore is not running, because he's talked to "Gore people" who say Gore is not making the needed calls to line up big money.
Eleanor Clift then jumped in to say that Gore should probably be prefacing his speaches with a clarification that he is not a candidate for president, but that he can't bring himself to do it, because in his heart of hearts, he's hoping for a popular groundswell of support that will draft him to run.
Until now most of the media has been ignoring the possibility that Gore will run, but Pat Buchanan and Tony Blankley did not dispute Clift's assertion. They noted the strength of the anti-war wing of the Democratic party and that no other big name candidates are stepping up to fill the void. Clift said that Gore will lay low through 2006, but if no major anti-war candidate has emerged by then, he has the ability to put together a candidacy overnight.
It's time to get serious about this draft Gore movement, people. I wasn't particularly impressed with him in 2000, but I respect tremendously everything he's done since the march to war started in 2002. Listening to him speak, one can't help but be impressed with his depth of knowledge, command of history, love for his country, and now, pure moral courage. I could go on and on here, but the bottom line is I don't think we will find a candidate who is smarter, more principled, more qualified or more electable!
So what can we do to make Gore's reported dream of being drafted to run for president a reality? I know there are at least a couple of websites devoted to this - does anyone know what plans are in the works?
One thought that I had is that Gore's future speeches could be perhaps held in football stadiums around the country. Kind of a throwback to old time oration. His current speeches aren't getting mainstream media coverage, so why not pack a stadium or two to get their attention and make a subsequent splash on the (at least local?) news? 60,000 people at $10 and up a head in every major city shouldn't be hard to do at all. Who's with me?