Please Run Al, Pretty Please

When you ponder where the country is right now and how badly fucked up it is there is a tendency to get rather depressed about what is going to happen during the balance of the disaster that is the George W. Bush presidency. Think further out you begin to wonder how in the world someone (hopefully a Democrat) could be expected to step in and begin to right our sinking ship of state. Our best chance is to elect someone experienced and who already believes and knows what has to be done. We won't have the luxury of a break-in period or giving the new adminstration a chance to learn the ropes. This article in the Chicago Tribune by Clarence Page gives me hope that we can convince Al Gore to give us some option other than Hillary. It is my considered opinion that we could not find a better combination of experience, knowledge andsomeone capable of hitting the ground running than Al. He's already won once and there are no skeletons that haven't been hammered on before. I would vote for him in a heartbeat. Maybe with Fiengold in the copilot's seat?

Yes, despite the nattering nabobs of anti-Al negativism, there is no longer much dispute that global warming exists. The only argument centers on how quickly it is going to cause more devastation and how much of it is caused by humans. That’s a debate Gore has been itching to have, and his side is looking more prescient by the day and too credible to be ignored.

And what better place to have that debate than a presidential campaign?

Sure, Gore’s not running. Not yet. But he has a ready-made base of strong support from MoveOn.org and Howard Dean’s army of feisty volunteers. Both groups tap him into the left’s richest vein of fundraising and volunteers outside of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) political and fundraising juggernaut. She’s way ahead in the polls and in fundraising, at present, but if the significant number of Democrats who doubt she can win the White House needs to coalesce around someone else, Gore is well-positioned to be wooed. And his movie hasn’t even been released.

None of this means Gore is going to run, of course. But, if I were Hillary Clinton I’d be looking over my shoulder.

Thanks to Susie for the heads up.
UPDATED: Fixed Link to the article (thanks Steve)