And the Winner is...Al Gore

Diana, he deserves both...the Nobel Peace Prize & the Presidency in 2008. What a wonderful thought!! Great piece.

As many of you know, I do political polling/consulting for a living. For those who read my article "A comprehensive, analytical view of the 2008 Presidential race", you know that I predicted Gore and Romney would be the respective nominees of their parties. People wrote and laughed at my Gore prediction, and I thought, "Just wait". I love being correct (or so it looks like I will be).

Now if I could just pick the winner in the Super Bowl......

i don't think gore is looking for presidential nomination, he is enjoying his moment in limelight.

I agree with bhumka. I don't think Gore will run for president. His mission has always been to address climate change. It dominated his terms in congress. Unfortunately, he did not make it an issue in the 2000 presidential race. At any rate, he has been an impassioned champion of the environment, and a true American hero. His critics don't even deserve to polish his shoes.

"Now if I could just pick the winner in the Super Bowl......"

DA BEARS!

I'll go out on a limb and say I agree with bhumika, too. I don't think Gore is looking for the nomination.

However, I must say that greg might be on to something because the nomination just might be looking for Gore.

Gore delivered a valuable message. I think his doing so ended any possibility of his being considered as a presidential candidate in 2008.

Everybody is now pretty much convinced that global climate change is for real and that there's a consensus it's caused by human activity. Everybody is convinced except the naysayers on Fox News, which seems to be a subsidiary of the White House and of the Republican Party. Wouldn't be surprised if Sean Hannity is on a secret government payroll.

No doubt Al Gore's nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize will be attacked in some quarters. More than a few critics will point out that Jimmy Carter's stature as a Nobel Peace Prize recipient is tarnished by the controversy over his book "Palestine: Peace Not Aparteid" and by charges that the former president is anti-semitic.

Nevertheless, concern over the fate of the planet is so strong in the eyes of world opinion that many corporations and government officials are taking notice and are taking action, too.

Al Gore is a great American. He won the election once, he can do it again. Just make sure someone is watching Florida (and Ohio ah what the heck ALL the states) this time.

I agree that Al is not looking to do all that again. But I do feel rising calls for him to reenter the race. I was a strong supporter of his the first time around and I would have no reservations supporting him again. In fact, he should pick Hillary as VEEP so we can all recycle our old Clinton/Gore bumper stickers by slicing them in half and reversing the order (turning them upside down would not have the desired effect).

interesting article Diana and information that had somehow gotten past me...I'm not sure WHAT lies ahead for Mr Gore but I'm sure of this...it's certain to be interesting, whatever it is! :-)

Way to go Al!
Keep up the fight.

maybe he won't concede this one before all the votes are in.

Gore says he isn't running and I believe him. That is, unless a gigantic Draft Gore movement erupts, and soon. Rich, I like Gore-Clinton. Nice ring to it. I am also a secret admirer of Tipper so that'd be a bonus!

I like the Nobel Peace Prize nomination and he is deserving.

More importantly--Bearsss.

Diana. Noticing you are from MN, what do you think of Al Franken announcing he will run for the senate in 2008?

I appreciate Gore's dedication to an issue that is obviously close to his heart. I must say, though, that I found his documentary basic, uninspiring, and a little ego-centric. Alas, I guess I should save more detail for a movie review's comment! Thanks for this article.

And of course we wouldn't be in Iraq.
This country is turning pure evil.
Is there any hope for America??????

If he could talk on the campaign trail the way he talks on his film, he'd already be president....in fact, he should be shouldn't he....Didn't he beat Bush the election before Kerry beat Bush?.....good article, Diana

Steve B.,

Read my post from January 31 regarding Al Franken here.

Thanks for asking.

Gore won the first time he ran, and even though he might win again I would rather see him on the Presidential Cabnet or maybe as our new UN Ambassador.

KK - good point.

Sorry, this is sad and pathetic. if al bore were to win this award, the Nobel's would lose any and all credibility. He mad a movie that had/has bad data and info and twists the information around to his viewpoint. He did nothing and deserves nothing, except split this nation further apart along political ideologies.

Mike that sounds like what bush does .(war in Iraq)
Are you confused?
The country and 3000+ Americans would have better off if the election hadn't been stolen by harris and the Supreme Court.
Talk about activist judges.
Why are folks so against cleaning up the environment?

Oh I remember THE ALL MIGHTY PROFITS!!!
Must make obscene profits no matter what.Need more money F$&k the Earth!
See; Exon Mobil, and Shell oil companies.

Most Gore supporters refuse to remember that candidate Al Gore conceded the election Election night personally on the phone to Bush.. end of argument.

Now if Bush had simply been smart enough to have refused to have taken the callback, had one of his aides say "I'm sorry the President Elect has gone to bed", things would have gone differently...

Kind of like having the President get Osama on the line and say We surrender.. and call back later ans say HEY WAIT A MINUTE I FOUND SOME MORE TROOPS.

the sad thing is that we had such a narrow choice of IDIOTS to start with.

I reallly enjoy all of your comments. I'm telling you, Gore will be the nominee!! And, I
m taking bets!

I dont think Gore will run, if he did I wonder if this would cause hard feelings between him and the Clintons?

mike e., it's interesting that you choose to hang your hat on the 10% chance that man didn't cause the climate change.

But isn't the real issue here that global warming, for whatever reason , is definitely happening and it is occurring with potentially catastrophic consequences in the not too distant future, and man - whether he caused it or not - can take steps to lessen the effects, or continue to follow practices that make it worse....

Here's my prediction- Al will not run for President in 2008. He has found a more important mission. When you are President and want a second term you have to kiss a few butts, when you are not you don't. I think "An inconvenient truth" will get the documentary Oscar. I think Al is a long shot for the Nobel, but it would not bother me. The Nobel voters understand that the struggle to achieve sustainability in the 21st century is the greatest challenge we face as a species, and they are rewarding people like Wangari Mathai who are doing good work.

The report is in.. Global warming is a myth. The evidence is clear that the climate has been changing (even without human help, can you imagine that) for billions of years. 30 years ago the world was cooling down and we were all doomed. Now it is warming up and we are all doomed. 30 years from now the sky will be falling and we will all be doomed. Does Vice President Gore deserve the Noble prize? No, supporting junk science and fear mongering is not a very grand platform. Will he win? Yes. What does that say about the world? Politics is everywhere.

Nobel, darn spell check :) XXOO

O.K. Mister X now go back to your Big Dick Cheney cave bunker and hide in your Anyhow...after swatting off the Faux News Sheeple drinking the Kool-Aid laced with wrong thinking Jim Jones cult mentality............bugs she wrote on.

Not only did the Intelligent Design teachers in the sorry excuse we call a Public School education system refuse 50,000 of Big Al's book for free, they added to the dumbed down hillybillies nature by trying to suppress this info nationwide. All for the prophets. I mean profits. Amazing! while the" rest of the world" gets it , this part of the isolationists world apparently is hellbent on making scientific data and facts look like made up propaganda. "The Rest of the World" who does'n t have a dog in this scientific fight are giving Al Gore his respect and kudos. "The rest of the world" gets it.

Or maybe, just maybe Kimberly... now this is a strange idea; maybe we are using logic instead of emotion to study this issue. Maybe just maybe the science does not support global warming (look at your own pro-global warming report that was just released).

The fact is that we do not have the ability to know for sure either way. Sorry, we just don't have the ability to measure what we need to measure and study what needs studying.

It looks like the world is largely acting of its own accord and that any influence by man/woman is very slight. Facts we do know (1) we can not stop global warming, even if we stop ALL industry (2) we do not know what effect our industry has on the environment and will not have the means to determine it for several more decades (3) you can never prove a theory (4) global warming does not even rank as a theory yet (in true scientific fashion).

To conclude the planet is warming, but may cool or stabilize. We have little influence over our world's temperatures. Planetary heating and cooling has occurred numerous times over our recorded history, well before the industrial revolution.

Our choices? (1) Return to 3rd world status for all nations and see billions die (2) increase technology to be a more green friendly world while continuing to study Global warming.

Wouldn't it be something if Gore won the Novel Peace Prize AND an Oscar (for which he was nominated) in the same year? That's as good as winning the popular vote!

Mister X-
Clarification. Alfred Nobel invented explosives which were badly needed in the mining and engineering fields. Do not blame him for how they were used by the military of his day. He felt a bit guilty about the end result of vastly improved warfare techniques, and therefore he decided to at least use most of his own wealth to help make the world a better place.
But you would not understand that impulse.

It does seem that the Nobel prize has been hickjacked by politics, I don't think Jimmy Carter or Al Gore are "Nobel Prize caliber" in the least. I mean ... there are a lot of people in this world (liberal and conservative and other far more deserving) and neither of these to yahoo's measure up to a very high standard (or at least the high standard I think a Nobel Prize winner should be). I think even the Nobel Committee regrets the Arafat fisco. hmmm we have a Racist, a Fear Monger (nutty, almost ocmical science), and a terrorist... WE CAN DO BETTER FOLKS! I don't care if they are liberal or not, they are not worthy IMHO

Felix,

You say, "Or maybe, just maybe Kimberly... now this is a strange idea; maybe we are using logic instead of emotion to study this issue. Maybe just maybe the science does not support global warming (look at your own pro-global warming report that was just released)."

On the contrary, Felix: maybe just maybe you are "using logic" to deny science, because it's easier and more immediately expedient to come up with a seemingly logical explanation than it is to actually refute scientific findings.


"It looks like the world is largely acting of its own accord and that any influence by man/woman is very slight."

Most scientists and the preponderance of scientific study says otherwise. ALTHOUGH, American Enterprise Institute, which has received funding from Exxon Mobil] is actively soliciting academics [via cash awards] to contribute to a book on climate change policy; i.e., to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the IPCC process. One academic who turned the offer down, Texas A&M climate researcher Steven Schroeder said he did not think AEI would skew his results but he worried that he might be published alongside "off the wall" ideas questioning the existence of global warming. He also said "while any human endeavor can be criticized, the IPCC system greatly exceeds the cooperation, openness and scientific rigorousness of the process applied to any other problem area that has significant effects on society." [This from Juliet Eilperin's 2/5 article in the Washington Post].

"Facts we do know (1) we can not stop global warming, even if we stop ALL industry"

Who ever said we should or could "stop ALL industry?" We CAN prepare for and mitigate the consequences of climate change if we take our heads out of the sands of Iraq, for starters, and get going on it. You may be disappointed, or pleased, to know that big business is jumping on the green bandwagon.


" (2) we do not know what effect our industry has on the environment and will not have the means to determine it for several more decades" WHO SAID?

" (3) you can never prove a theory"

Did you go to some kind of regressive church school? -- why wouldn't it be rational to take preventive action based on what we actually do know.

" (4) global warming does not even rank as a theory yet (in true scientific fashion)."

WHAT is TRUE SCIENTIFIC FASHION? I daresay the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change know what that is, or isn't, and all the scientists around the world who have studied climate change probably know a thing or two about "true scientific fashion." [We do know this Administration's "scientists" don't know what they're doing.]

Great! Al Gore! Everybody now pat your self on the back! Good job.

I'm not so sure about the presidency, but his timely movie and his focus on global warming is something very deserved of this monumental recognition.

To go on record, anyone silly enough to think global warming isn't a threat, must live well inland, like the midwest. It's real folks. Very real. And one should not underestimate how his movie and his campaign have affected policies worldwide, attention, sparked debate, kept the issue in front of us. Don't get all caught up in how many errors he may have made, or that it was only a movie... look at the effects (socially, politically, culturally, economically, etc growing every day).. and that's what's being awarded. Remember, they give out Nobel awards for books, and you can do that in your bathtub.

"I don't think Gore is looking for the nomination."

You have to be kidding! My side hurts on that statement. His ego is so large that his head will soon block the sun and cause global cooling! But, his hot air will warm it up!

The earth will soon be too small to handle both Al Gore's ego if he wins and if Hillary Clinton's ego if she gets the nomination.

Al Gore is a non factor, except to the coffee shop crowd and the left leaning mainstream media.

"...and you can do that in your bathtub."

Touche, Ed!!

Gary: Gore may be hoping for the nomination and maybe he is even looking for it. As a matter of fact, Rolling Stone agrees that he will run - as does James Carville. When I met him, I did not get the sense that he had an overblown ego, though. And, for the record, many people were begging him to run. That's why I think that if he runs, it will be due to the public's asking for it.

I'm hoping that Al Gore gets the nomination for the Democrats. I think a lot of Republicans are too.

What is so frustrating is that some people just miss it completely. Global warming is not the same as "Man is causing Global warning". Vice President Gore's movie is what disqualifies him for the Nobel prize. Junk science, fear mongering is not Nobel material (IMHO). Of course I don't have a vote though :)

I feel sorry for everyone that has been "tricked" into believing this monumental lie. Remember when the world was cooling? Or remember when power lines caused cancer? We have enough real problems in our world to not worry about made up problems.

Felix,
There are people (especially the oil industry) who are counting on people like yourself to keep believing that man made global warming is a myth. In ten years, you'll be singing a different tune when you realize the quality of life your children will not have because of the folly of ignoring the science.

Felix,
Just accept the fact that we don't have enough socialism in the United States. Don't question them, they know what's good for you. 2+2=5. Don't be an independant thinker, let them think for you.

Winston Smith

"As a matter of fact, Rolling Stone agrees that he will run - as does James Carville."

Ooooohhhh, Rolling Stone. I got "free" subscription when I visited the R & R Hall of Fame in Cleveland last summer. Old and tired. Still rehashing the 60's and 70's, both musically and politically.

I bet Salon, Utne Reader, and Mother Jones like Gore's chances too.

Good writing Diane. I guess we'll all have to wait and see what the future holds for Al Gore. The interim speculation is certainly entertaining though.

Lump me in with the global warming believers - as yet, I haven't seen a convincing argument refuting the claims that our world is heating up.

Good article. Gore, a for the people kind of guy! I do not see mean in Gore at all, unlike some words by some people in this thread. Diane, Good Spirit you have, keep writing. I thank you.

Diana, I'm so looking forward to the 24-hour concert, Live Earth, part of his Save Our Selves (SOS) initiative that will do even more to raise awareness of global warming in countries around the world.

bravo!!

My only thought is, "Won't Bill be jealous?" Clinton seemed so concerned with his own legacy while in office, yet it is Gore who is now taking the victory lap.

I like Al Gore!
He cares, and makes Bush even more stupid!
Run Al Run!

George Vreeland Hill

The energy around Al Gore must be activating - this article jumped out for me today. There is a strong potential for Al to shepherd our first Black President in some way.

Noting here - when Al was so rudely kicked out of the Vice President's quarters by the strangeness surrounding that election vote recounts of recounts, there was the sense that, actually, he was being "kicked upstairs." The White House may not be a big enough "upstairs" to house all that Al is doing for Earth.

Al Gore has spent so much time and money warming the globe up himself, all of the rest of us put together probably don't have enough money to repair the damages he alone has done.
He spends so much money getting it all warmed up, so he will lhave a warm place to stand in front of a podium and talk and debate about how to cool it back down.
If that isn't just like yor everyday "christian" American. Especially those on the democrats and republicans sides.
But, I wonder if someone could tell me, how much does time cost?
Why, I bet Al gore knows. He sure has bought enough of it for talk, hasn't he? And you all said talk was cheap.