Defining Moment

Sunday's Oscar program may be a defining moment for the future of the country and, in fact, the world. Sunday is when Al Gore will probably stand and accept an Oscar for Best Documentary and also have a billion people worldwide listening to his every word. What better moment? What more
could one ask for in a moment pregnant with the power to set the world on a new course? I know he has said over and over that he has better things to do than run for President again but the more I see of what we will have to pick from in 2008 the more I see a need for a seasoned, ready to hit the ground running guy like Gore.
This from CNN:

"There's even some speculation that he would use his Oscar as the occasion to announce that he's running," Martin Kaplan, director of the University of Southern California's Norman Lear Center, told CNN. "Imagine that: a billion people worldwide! Take that Jay Leno, as an announcement venue!''

Could it happen? Gore's producer thinks a potential Gore speech would be a historic moment, but not the way Kaplan envisions.

"It's electrifying, not politically, because is Al Gore going to run or not going to run. There's nothing going to happen like that," Bender told CNN. "It's electrifying because the man who is responsible for solidifying the forces around global warming is going to'' be acknowldged.

But could an Oscar start the momentum for a draft-Gore movement? USC's Kaplan thinks it could.

"People think that he's paid his dues, he's had more of an impact on issues that people care about than many people who have been in office and there's a feeling that he's finally lost that student council condescension that was fingernails on a blackboard to a lot of supporters," Kaplan said.