In the comments to the post below this one, Wasteland asked, in that charming personaljokespeak we generally use to communicate with one another, whether I'm ready to "officially announce my endorsement" for 2008, as did this insufferable egomaniac we used to work with back in 2000. I don't remember which candidate this woman (whom I regularly referred to as "The Shameless Self-Promoter") "endorsed" back in 2000.
But it's at least possible it was the same guy I'm going to endorse in this post.
Yep. That's it. The energy-saving, compact fluorescent light bulb just illuminated in your head and you thought to yourself, "What's she talking about? Al Gore's not running."
Oh, yeah? Prove it. But, but, he's said he's not running over and over again, you think to yourself.
Nope. He hasn't, actually. Listen, I parse words for a living. The difference between an "and" and an "or" in my world can mean the difference between life and death, poverty and riches, prison and freedom. And in this case, the difference between "not running" and "not planning to run" can be a presidential candidacy or an honorable post-political life gathering nominations for Oscars and Nobel Prizes.
Neither is really all that shabby, but there really is a stark difference between the two.
Every time someone has e-mailed me claiming that it's official this time, Al's not running, too bad so sad, I've clicked over, read his words carefully, and discerned that he has said nothing of the kind. The clincher for me came when everyone started telling me his son had said he wasn't running. So I read the thing, and young Albert goes on and on about how toxic the political environment is and how polluted with money, and then he says this:
[B]ut I know that he has no plans to run in 2008."Sounds like a talking point to me. That's some amazing family discipline, I tell ya. It's a good thing Bloggerdad never went into politics as a candidate, because there's no freakin' way our family could stay on message like that. This is what it would be like trying to get us to do that.
So, don't tell me that Al Gore isn't running for President, because you don't know whether he is or not. I don't know whether he is or not.
I can tell you this -- his campaign manager from 2000 thinks he's running. His wife said last summer that she would support him if he ran. This columnist for the Boston Globe thinks he might run, and this article in Rolling Stone just begged him to.
I'm not saying he'll run. But he sure hasn't ruled it out. There is no good reason for him to announce -- or even decide on -- a candidacy too early. He can afford time to think, observe, and consider. His film has been nominated for an Oscar, he's just been nominated for the Nobel Prize, and he has a new book coming out in May.
The bottom line for me is this. I'm with Al until it's crystal clear he's not running. And I understand that could still happen.
In the next post, I'll tell you why I'm for Gore, why I think he'd run away with the nomination, and why I think he'd win in the general election. So please save your comments on those issues until the next post. This post should only be for why you think I'm crazy for thinking he might run. That and expressions of adoration and hope for Mr. Gore's candidacy.
If you're so inclined, go here and ask him to run. But go watch this first. It's hysterical.
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