Harvard University opinion: "Why Gore Shouldn't Run"

Why Gore Shouldn't Run

Staying out of D.C. makes Gore the smartest environmentalist in the country
Published On Sunday, October 28, 2007 11:54 PM
By JESSICA C. COGGINS

After the 2000 elections, Democrats around the country found themselves at a loss for words. The unthinkable had happened and George W. Bush—so inept he can’t even pronounce the word “nuclear”—was moving into the White House. And for the loser of that election? It seems Al Gore ’69 consoled himself with donuts and grew a beard any aspiring Mountain Man would be proud to bear.

Flash forward several years and Gore’s an Oscar-winning, PowerPoint junkie. He’s included in Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” under scientists and thinkers.
By all accounts he’s single-handedly credited with teaching an entire nation about global warming — and the Nobel committee agrees.

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It’s possible that we now live in an era in which politicians and the other goons in Washington are actually detrimental, or, at best, ineffectual, in enacting policy. It seems counterintuitive: After all we elect these people to competently steer the country in the right direction.
But now more than ever, the influence of elected and appointed officials has reached a new low. The public realizes they’re actually paid to be sleazy and self-absorbed.

And what makes Gore so valuable to our country is that he’s no longer among the ranks of these politicians. If he did decide to make a run for the White House again, it’d be akin to sinking his success down a toilet.

rest here...
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=520371

"I have no plans to be a candidate. But, yes, it's true, I have not made a so- called Sherman statement and ruled it out for all time. I see no reason or necessity to do that.

But that's not an effort to be coy or to prop the door open or to invite such speculation. Look, I don't know why it's ordained that one -- that as soon as one presidential campaign is over with, the next one begins right away. I'm one of those who doesn't like to see the Christmas goods put into storage right after Halloween.

And I think the American people are not well-served by having an endless campaign. We are 500 days away from the next election. So why just sort of close up the field and say, OK, this is it. Place your bets. I don't have to play that game."