Thursday, May 25, 2006
Democrats View Gore as 'The Anti-Hillary'
NewsMax - Al Gore is back in the limelight with the release of his global-warming documentary "An Inconvenient Truth.” Now comes a feature article in New York magazine titled "The Comeback Kid.”
And one theme that comes across loud and clear in the piece is the widespread feeling among Democrats that the former vice president is the "anti-Hillary” – the one potential candidate who could torpedo Hillary Clinton’s campaign for her party’s presidential nomination in 2008.
After Gore’s narrow defeat by George Bush in 2000, the "Washington Establishment viewed him with a mix of scorn and pity,” John Heilemann writes in New York. But now, "many Democrats are wondering if he will run again in 2008 – and reaching the improbable, nay astonishing, conclusion that it might be a good idea.”
Enthusiasm for a Gore campaign can be traced in part to his vociferous criticism of the Bush administration after 9/11.
"But the Gore boomlet is also being driven by another force: the creeping sense of foreboding about the prospect of Hillary Clinton’s march to her party’s nomination,” Heilemann notes.
He quotes a senior party player as saying: "Every conversation in Democratic politics right now has the same three sentences. One: ‘She is the presumptive front-runner.’ Two: ‘I don’t much like her, but I don’t want to cross her, for God’s sake!’ And three: ‘If she’s our nominee, we’re going to get killed.’”
And Gore’s former vice-presidential chief of staff Ron Klain told Heilemann: "If [Gore] runs, he’s certainly the front-runner or the co-front-runner with Mrs. Clinton. And, in the end, he would probably win the nomination.”
When asked by Heilemann what he thinks of Hillary as a politician, Gore says blandly: "Well, I think that she’s doing a very effective job for her state. I think she’s going to be re-elected overwhelmingly. I think she has impressed her colleagues in the Senate and demonstrated an ability to work in a bipartisan way with Republican senators you might have not believed she could form alliances with.”
But a former Gore aide told Heilemann that in fact, Gore "intensely dislikes her. It all goes back to 1993 and 1994, when there were two vice-presidents: Al Gore and Hillary Clinton. They fought for turf, for resources, for projects. It was almost like a sibling rivalry over who was the second-most-important person in the White House.”
If Gore does square off against Hillary, his history as a moderate on many issues would sit well with centrist Democrats "who fear that Clinton is a once-and-future lefty,” writes Heilemann. "Thus does the Gore 2008 bandwagon gather steam from coast to coast.”
Pundit Dick Morris agrees that Gore has the best chance – among both Democrats and Republicans – of keeping Hillary out of the White House.
As he recently wrote for NewsMax: "Gore has several key advantages over Hillary. He has always strongly opposed the war, while she . . . voted for it. His historic warnings about the dangers of climate change seem to be coming true all around us. The major national issue – energy prices – is right up his alley. Gore has been advocating alternative fuels and major conservation for decades.
"Gore would exploit a soft-core negative against Hillary that is sweeping the ranks of Democrats. Hungry for victory and suspicious of Hillary's ability to win, they whisper to one another: ‘I like her but isn't she too divisive to win?’”
Heilemann isn’t sure how the new, repackaged Gore would fare in 2008, however: "What’s clear is that Gore would love to be president, but the thought of the whole awful business of getting there makes him nearly nauseous. Gore’s awareness of this conundrum is keen and wrenching. How he resolves it will determine not just the shape of the 2008 campaign but whether the New Gore is the real deal or the Old Gore in disguise.”
NewsMax - Al Gore is back in the limelight with the release of his global-warming documentary "An Inconvenient Truth.” Now comes a feature article in New York magazine titled "The Comeback Kid.”
And one theme that comes across loud and clear in the piece is the widespread feeling among Democrats that the former vice president is the "anti-Hillary” – the one potential candidate who could torpedo Hillary Clinton’s campaign for her party’s presidential nomination in 2008.
After Gore’s narrow defeat by George Bush in 2000, the "Washington Establishment viewed him with a mix of scorn and pity,” John Heilemann writes in New York. But now, "many Democrats are wondering if he will run again in 2008 – and reaching the improbable, nay astonishing, conclusion that it might be a good idea.”
Enthusiasm for a Gore campaign can be traced in part to his vociferous criticism of the Bush administration after 9/11.
"But the Gore boomlet is also being driven by another force: the creeping sense of foreboding about the prospect of Hillary Clinton’s march to her party’s nomination,” Heilemann notes.
He quotes a senior party player as saying: "Every conversation in Democratic politics right now has the same three sentences. One: ‘She is the presumptive front-runner.’ Two: ‘I don’t much like her, but I don’t want to cross her, for God’s sake!’ And three: ‘If she’s our nominee, we’re going to get killed.’”
And Gore’s former vice-presidential chief of staff Ron Klain told Heilemann: "If [Gore] runs, he’s certainly the front-runner or the co-front-runner with Mrs. Clinton. And, in the end, he would probably win the nomination.”
When asked by Heilemann what he thinks of Hillary as a politician, Gore says blandly: "Well, I think that she’s doing a very effective job for her state. I think she’s going to be re-elected overwhelmingly. I think she has impressed her colleagues in the Senate and demonstrated an ability to work in a bipartisan way with Republican senators you might have not believed she could form alliances with.”
But a former Gore aide told Heilemann that in fact, Gore "intensely dislikes her. It all goes back to 1993 and 1994, when there were two vice-presidents: Al Gore and Hillary Clinton. They fought for turf, for resources, for projects. It was almost like a sibling rivalry over who was the second-most-important person in the White House.”
If Gore does square off against Hillary, his history as a moderate on many issues would sit well with centrist Democrats "who fear that Clinton is a once-and-future lefty,” writes Heilemann. "Thus does the Gore 2008 bandwagon gather steam from coast to coast.”
Pundit Dick Morris agrees that Gore has the best chance – among both Democrats and Republicans – of keeping Hillary out of the White House.
As he recently wrote for NewsMax: "Gore has several key advantages over Hillary. He has always strongly opposed the war, while she . . . voted for it. His historic warnings about the dangers of climate change seem to be coming true all around us. The major national issue – energy prices – is right up his alley. Gore has been advocating alternative fuels and major conservation for decades.
"Gore would exploit a soft-core negative against Hillary that is sweeping the ranks of Democrats. Hungry for victory and suspicious of Hillary's ability to win, they whisper to one another: ‘I like her but isn't she too divisive to win?’”
Heilemann isn’t sure how the new, repackaged Gore would fare in 2008, however: "What’s clear is that Gore would love to be president, but the thought of the whole awful business of getting there makes him nearly nauseous. Gore’s awareness of this conundrum is keen and wrenching. How he resolves it will determine not just the shape of the 2008 campaign but whether the New Gore is the real deal or the Old Gore in disguise.”
