Gore mulling third party run in '08 [Green Party}
Gore mulling third party run in '08
Former Vice President Al Gore testifies before the joint hearing on climate change on March 21. (AFP/Mannie Garcia)
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton faces a possible new threat to her presidential ambitions.
Former Vice President Al Gore has again been entertaining offers to run for president. Gore has been discussing a run for a third party nomination with family and close aides.
"Al Gore has been energized by the attention he's been receiving as America's leading environmentalist," a political source close to Gore said. "He believes this might present an opportunity to become president or at least try again."
Sources close to Gore said Ralph Nader has sought to recruit the former vice president to run as the candidate for the Green Party. They said Gore has not rejected the offer and was consulting with family and friends to determine the feasibility of such a candidacy.
At this point, Gore stands behind Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama in any race for the Democratic presidential nomination. But the polls report that many Democrats who support Clinton could switch their support to Gore.
Still, Gore, largely estranged from former President Bill Clinton since 2000, is said to have concluded that he stands no chance of beating Hillary for the Democratic presidential nomination. But sources close to Gore said the former vice president believes that he could present himself as a genuine liberal in any general election that would include Clinton.
For her part, Clinton has been monitoring Gore's feelers regarding a presidential race. The sources said Clinton has expressed concern that a third party effort by Gore could hurt her chances in the general election.
"Gore is invulnerable on several issues," a political strategist familiar with Gore's consultations said. "Unlike Obama, he can't be attacked as inexperienced; he has much more experience than Hillary. And, he was Bill's vice president."
Nader, a harsh critic of then-President Bill Clinton, was for a time the leader of the Green Party. Nader has used the movement for previous races for the presidency. Nader's campaign was believed to have spoiled Gore's efforts for the presidency in the 2000 election, particularly in the state of Florida where George W. Bush won by only 537 votes. In 1996 and 2000, Nader was the presidential nominee of the Green Party.
Over the last month, Gore's profile has skyrocketed in the wake of his Academy Award for his documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," which examines global warming. On March 21, Gore testified to two congressional panels that global climate change marked the greatest danger in U.S. history and issued a 10-point plan that included an immediate freeze on new emissions from cars and power plants.
"This is not a normal time," Gore said in his first appearance on Capitol Hill since 2001. "We are facing a planetary emergency. I'm fully aware that that phrase sounds shrill to many people's ears. But it is accurate."
Although a handful of Republicans criticized and questioned his research and the factual basis for many of his claims, many Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee viewed Gore's appearance as a homecoming. The Democrats, with Sen. Hillary Clinton sitting on the committee, said Gore was leading a nationwide movement that sought drastic changes in the environment.
"You have acted for us," said Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Sen. Barbara Boxer, California Democrat. "You have acted more than anyone else."
The sources said Gore, who also serves as an adviser to Google, would quietly test the waters in a series of polls in the spring of 2007. They said his high profile will probably be maintained over the next few months when he publicizes his latest book, "The Assault on Reason" in May. The book is said to be an indictment of American politics.
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