Buoyed by winning the Oscar and lionized by the left, former Vice President Al Gore is basking in the glow of frenzied speculation about whether he will again seek the presidency.
“While Gore has ruled it out for the moment, I believe if the opportunity presents itself, he could step up immediately,” said Donna Brazile, campaign manager of Gore’s White House bid in 2000.
But Gore supporters should be careful what they wish for, according to Mark Halperin, political director of ABC News.
“Basically, the political press wants to tempt Al Gore into the race, and then they will destroy him as a flip-flopping, exaggerating, stiff loser,” Halperin wrote in his daily political memo, known as “The Note.” “And Gore knows this.”
Brazile dismissed such talk as political cynicism.
“Look, I understand the inside-the-Beltway crowd believes Gore is yesterday’s news, but think about our country,” she said. “Think about the challenges and the type of leader this nation will need in 2009.”
Gore fits the description.
“And if voters decide they want something new, something different, someone else, they will decide,” she said. “Not the media.”
Michael Feldman, who served as a top aide to Gore in the White House, warned against misinterpreting the hype over “An Inconvenient Truth,” Gore’s documentary on global warming that won an Oscar on Sunday.
“He’s been raising his profile on an issue that he cares a lot about, and I understand why the campaign around that looks and feels like it could be something else,” said Feldman, who remains close to Gore. “People look at that and they may see some sort of political motivation. That’s not what it is.”
Gore confidants are convinced he is sincere when he says he has no plans to run for president in 2008. But they explain that he is consciously leaving some “wiggle room” because he does not feel comfortable ruling out a run in the future, perhaps in 2012.
