The Gore Factor

Hooman Majd
Posted May 2, 2008 | 06:05 PM (EST)



Let us assume for a moment that the Democratic convention commences in August without a presumptive nominee. (Neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama appear likely to throw in the towel before the convention, no matter what happens on May 6, and it also seems increasingly likely that the candidates will be effectively locked in a stalemate, notwithstanding Obama's almost inevitable lead in pledged delegates and probable lead in the popular vote.) If no nominee is selected on the first ballot, the convention will become a brokered one, and (obviously) it is at this point impossible to guess who will emerge victorious on any subsequent ballot.

But imagine this: what if Barack Obama, if unsuccessful on the first ballot, rather than continue to fight for the nomination, meets with Al Gore, yes Gore, and tells him that he would willingly throw his support behind a 'Draft Gore' campaign, and become his vice-presidential running mate. One cannot imagine a scenario under which, with Obama's and his supporters' (and delegates') support, Al Gore would not become the nominee on the second or a subsequent ballot, even accounting for a last-minute furious fight by a Clinton campaign known for its fury.

Admittedly, Al Gore has often publicly said he is no longer interested in the presidency, that he is well over the disappointment of not attaining it, and that he can do better work (on the environment and global warming) as a private citizen. And he has said those things with all sincerity. But it is relatively easy to make those comments and believe them when the presidency is an abstract notion, and when the idea of entering the grueling fray of a long winter of primary politics is a singularly unattractive one to a retired politician. But one cannot underestimate the effect, sitting in the convention hall in Denver and watching the future of his party, and potentially his country, being decided and his being offered, on the proverbial silver platter, the opportunity to likely become the forty-third president of the United States a mere two-and-a-half months later, can have. (And who really believes that as president of the United States he cannot do more for his cause than he can as a tireless, and admittedly often effective, private citizen?) As the saying goes, "show me the money," and such a scenario would surely have to figuratively count for a lot of cash. Nobel prize winner, Oscar-winner Albert Gore would have to possess an unusually small or suppressed ego, something neither he nor any other politician is known for, to refuse the proposition.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hooman-majd/the-gore-factor_b_99893.html