Jimmy Carter has said it, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said it, even Madonna has said it. They all want Al Gore to run for president in 2008. Yet their support will be meaningless if Al doesn't run.
Although Gore hasn't ruled out a run, he appears to be hesitating, and there is simply no way to tell today if the hesitation is strategic, as some believe, or reflects his state of mind.
In American politics a draft is when a large number of citizens organize so effectively that they convince a reluctant candidate to enter an electoral contest. This is a plan of action for a national movement to make Mr. Gore a request he can't ignore.
(Much of this material is re-posted from my April 27 diary.)
If you are one of the many people who want Al to run and you want to do more than just wish, it's time to start taking action now because it may be too late by fall when Al's intentions may become clearer.
A draft is going to take more than signing one petition or another, sending Al a thousand letters, singing "Run Al Run,", joining a Gore Group, watching An Inconvenient Truth, buying his new book, The Assault on Reason (due out in May), or even donating to a draft fund or going to a Draft Al Gore for President MeetUp.
These are all good and potentially helpful, but there is little basis to believe that these actions, separately or in combination, no matter how many people take them, can possibly organize a large number of citizens effectively, and will therefore not add up to a request Al will have to take seriously.
These tactics all boil down, either explicitly or implicitly, to asking Al to run. The missing ingredient is a strategy to convince him by demonstrating that he can win the nomination.
What would it take for the Draft Movement to make a request that would convince Al to run?
At this point there are two options. Fortunately there is no immediate need to choose between them, because they can work together. Both require organizing state by state.
Option 1. "Favorite Daughter" strategy
Before the primaries in 1952, people across the country organized to persuade General Dwight Eisenhower to run for president. Henry Cabot Lodge placed Eisenhower's name on the New Hampshire primary ballot and non-candidate Eisenhower beat Senator Taft. Ike then entered the presidential race, won the Republican nomination and went on to become President.
There are many more primaries now than there were then, and many more delegates are elected in primaries, so the nomination process is very different today.
A "Favorite Daughter" draft, modeled on the old time "Favorite Son" candidacies, would be ambitious and innovative. (Remember, Al likes innovation.) It would need to be organized at the state level and to collect pledges of support. Each state, or at least the states with early primaries, would then find "Favorite Daughter" candidates to run in Gore's place. These candidates would pledge that the delegates they won would vote for Al Gore in the National Convention and they would campaign for Gore's nomination based on his extensive record of speeches, statements and writings. (You can read more about this strategy in an earlier diary of mine.
Option 2. "Front runner" strategy
Much more recently, in 2004, there was a draft campaign for General Wesley Clark that pursuaded him to get into the race in time to place himself on the primary ballots and campaign in the primary elections. Of course, General Clark won neither the nomination nor the presidency but he did help to keep alive the idea of a draft.
A "Gore the frontrunner" draft would need to convince Gore to enter the race in time to get on the ballot in the states with early primaries, by October or November. It would need to be organized state by state and would need to gather enough pledges of support to establish Gore as a favorite in each primary. The exact numbers needed would depend on the size of the state and on the expected numbers of voters in the Democratic primary, probably tens of thousands even in a small state like New Hampshire and several hundred thousand or a million in a large state like California.
Right now it doesn't matter which of these two strategies the Draft Gore Movement follows. What does matter now is that there is important work to be done to build a convincing Draft Gore Movement today.
To do in May-June: 2007
This list is in the form of an a la carte menu with a List A (appetizers), B (entrees), and C (desserts).
List A. (Appetizers)
If you're a Gore fan, you've probably done at least one of these things already.
- Sign the petition at DraftGore.com
- Sign a similar petition or join a Gore Group at AlGore.org
However don't look to either organization for political direction. They are both run by dedicated amateurs, but directing a national political organization is not a job for an amateur, no matter how able. I've been hoping that one or the other would grow into the leadership role, but so far it hasn't happened.
This is not to say that both organizations in different ways aren't very important and don't make valuable contributions to the Draft Gore Movement. DraftGore.com's 72 thousand (and growing) signatures might well help to get to Gore on the ballot in some states and could be used in other ways to advance the draft. AlGore.org offers valuable tools for networking and local organizing.
- Send Al a letter asking him to run.
- Donate $5 to ActBlue's Draft Al Gore for President fund.
This is a nice way to demonstrate more tangible support for Al, but it's largely symbolic. The money goes into a lock box that Al only gets to use after he becomes a candidate. If Al never runs, then the money will go to the Democratic National Committee. Although that is a great cause, the hitch is, that the money can't be used in the mean time to finance the Draft Movement, which is going to need funds (for flyers, signs, stickers, web technology, events).
In view of the declared candidates' first-quarter fundraising reports, it would take tens of millions of dollars in this fund to affect Al's decision, and people aren't going to give that kind of money before Al declares. If he does declare, the campaign should be able to raise enough money to be competitive judging from the strong support Al has in Silicon Valley, Hollywood, and the netroots.
- Listen to "Run Al Run"
This song composed and sung by Paul Kaplan will make you smile even if you don't support Al.
- Attend a Draft Al Gore for President MeetUp.
MeetUps are a nice way to meet other Gore supporters and network but accomplish little by themselves.
- Watch An Inconvenient Truth
- Order Al's new book, The Assault on Reason (due out May 22).
- Post a comment (preferably video, but text okay too) on Youtube (please cut and paste:
"http://youtube.com/watch?v=gbVfsyKpVHg&feature=PlayList&p=D90C28251A8AA651&index=0"). - Put a Draft Gore bumpersticker on your car or button on your lapel.
List B. (Entrees)
It is strongly recommended that you do both. One is the minimum. These take more time and effort than List A but are very rewarding.
- Get a clipboard and start collecting petition signatures, ink on paper or equivalent, with legible names, street addresses, and emails, from friends, relatives, neighbors, and wherever signers are likely to be found, climate action events, Democratic Party gatherings, protest rallies, and farmers markets, to name a few.
Here are a petition form and flyer (MSWord format) that you can download, customize (by putting a local address at the bottom) and print. On this form, there is a check box for volunteering. This is a vital device for building the Draft Gore Movement.
UPDATE: Show people letters to Mr. Gore, such as this one, as a way of demonstrating the breadth and conviction of the draft movement.
The appeal to signers is simple. "Al Gore is the right choice for President in 2008. He is hesitant to run but has not ruled it out. We need to make him a request and offer of grassroots support that he won't ignore. Please sign the Draft Gore petition."
You should do two things with the signed petitions. First, be sure to keep copies so the names can be entered into a statewide database of signers in your state. Second, follow up with the signers who checked the Volunteer box, invite them to a meeting, and try to get them commit to joining the Draft Gore Movement.
If you also want to build the national numbers, a third thing you can do would be to add the names into the petition at DraftGore.com or AlGore.org.
- Start organizing with other Gore supporters in your area.
The sooner you can do this the better. You'll be more effective working with a group that shares advice, information, and know-how and supports each other.
Unfortunately there is no single surefire way to find other Gore drafters in every area yet. Start by seeing if there is a MeetUp or Gore Group near you. If so, go to a meeting or contact an organizer by email. If not, see if anyone is posting about drafting Gore on a progressive politics blog in your state. (13 are listed on the blogroll on DailyKos' front page.) Or build your own group with people who sign the petition. Or write a letter to the editor of your local paper about why you want to draft Gore and ask volunteers to contact you. It's not rocket science. Just be creative and use any networking channel you can think of.
List C. (Desserts)
You are likely to be more effective at these after you've started getting signatures and organizing in your area.
- Contact other groups in your state and start organizing a statewide Draft Gore Movement.
Groups in Michigan are reported to have monthly statewide meetings and to have gathered support for Gore at the State Democratic Convention in February. 17 groups in California worked the April Democratic Convention, selling buttons, gathering petition signatures and encouraging people to join the AGO movement. Here in Massachusetts, two groups have plans for a Draft Gore booth at the Massachusetts State Democratic Convention on May 19 and statewide meetings thereafter. There are lots of other opportunities for statewide collaboration, starting with building a database of Draft Gore petition signers and volunteers.
- Start researching the laws in your state about getting Gore or a "favorite daughter" candidate on the ballot in the presidential primary or caucus and figuring out the best strategy.
There is still time to do this but it's not too soon to start. In a post on bloggersforgore NYPopulist for help in finding out the requirements for getting Al or a surrogate on the ballot in every state and has put out a call for collaborators. Here's Marchmoon's summary of the requirements in California.
- Start discussions with Democratic party leaders and politicians, congresspeople, and state office holders about running slates of delegates pledged to Gore in the state primary and possible "Favorite Daughter" candidates to head the effort.
Find out who likes Gore and might be interested in running. More serious candidate recruitment can happen in the summer, after you have demonstrated support with petitions and started to build a statewide organization. After the Live Earth Concert on July 7 might be a logical time to start more focused discussions, but it will only help to get the ball rolling sooner.
- Set up a State Draft Gore Campaign Fund.
You can start organizing and do quite a lot with self financed and in-kind contributions but as the effort grows it will benefit from the flexibility and greater resource that a fund allows.
Al Gore.
The right choice for President in 2008.
Accept no substitutes!