Now that Kobe, Phil, and the vaunted triangle offense have bowed out of the NBA finals in the post-Shaq-LA era, we may have seen the beginnings of a new 3 man dream team. In the city where the Jackson-led, triangle offense Bulls and Pistons battled for world domination in the late 80's early 90's, Jennifer Granholm, Al Gore and Barack Obama gathered at "the Joe" Monday night
First, you have the Democratic governor of Michigan, Granholm. A native Canadian, she along with Kathleen Sebelius and Janet Napolitano form a core of female governors who have shown the ability to bridge party, gender, and financial lines across there respective states. 3 female governors, 3 swing states (MI, KS, AZ), all with the governing expereince that an Obama VP may very well need. Granholm more so than the other two. She cant be a VP candidate because of her Canadian birth but, she may play a role as big as any one in this campaign by leading the charge for the democrats to repair bridges that may have been burnt as a result of the primary move and the subsequent halving of the votes in Michigan. Also it goes without saying that the more women Obama puts at the forefront of his White House run, can only help the cause of bringing Clinton's female voters back into the Democratic fold. Im sure she will have a major role to play in the race for the women's vote this election cycle
Second, we have former VP, Nobel Prize and Oscar winner, and climate change icon Al Gore. Gore's absence during the primary season the big mystery of the primary season. Pundits wondered "who, what or when he would endorse?" Why they wondered I have no idea, especially when Gore said at at least twice a month for the last 3 months of the primary season, "Im waiting for the process to play itself out". Well wonder no more. To me Al Gore's endorsement now is bigger than in wouldve been back 3 months ago. Think about it, he endorses 3 months ago and we're all saying things like, "he just doesnt like the Clinton's" or "the endorsement is against Hillary as much as he is for Obama. Gore brings with him 57 MILLION voters who voted for him in 2000. 57 MILLION!!!!. To put that in perspective, its more than 3 times the "army" HRC claims to have. These voters, along with those who undoubtedly have buyers remorse from the first GWB term, might be more crucial to the election. As evidenced by the part of his speech where he stated "elections matter". Gore brings Obama the one of the leading voices for global warming, an issue that is starting to resonate with voters in 2008 who never even considered it an issue in 2004. Gore has an obscenely big Rolodex that he will use to further enlarge the Obama financial juggernaut. Gore, being 1 of "party elders", may bring instant credibility to Obama, for the skeptical voters who are still on the fence about Obama and the direction he wants to go. He, also along with Jim Webb, can tag-team down in Appalachia to turn on the voters who voted against Obama and may go to John McCain out of familiarity (read: not black)
So for one night, Michigan was the center of the Democratic universe and those in attendance, just like those in Iowa, may have helped start the beginning of a new championship dynasty