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Friday, March 2, 2007

The Contenders: Al Gore

posted by on March 2 at 9:05 AM

Sure, November 2008 is nearly two years away, but it’s apparently never too early to declare one’s intention to run for president, and thus it’s never too early to get to know the people who might be the next leader of the free world. This month we’ll be taking a brief look at them.

gore.png

Al Gore

Party: Democratic

Age: 58

Status: Undeclared

www.algore.com

He’s won a presidential election (sort of), an Oscar, and been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. However, despite a heavily orchestrated joke at the Oscars award ceremony, Al Gore has yet to throw his hat into the ring for the 2008 election. He hasn’t ruled out the possibility, though.

Al Gore was born in Washington D.C. in 1948. His father was a Senator for Tennessee from 1953 to 1971. Gore graduated from Harvard University with a BA in Government in 1969. After graduation, he enlisted in the military and was sent to Vietnam, where he served as a field reporter for five months. He then requested, and received, an honorable discharge. He has said that he was opposed to the war but enlisted because he felt it was his civic duty.

Gore briefly took religious studies courses at Vanderbilt University upon returning from Vietnam before transferring over to the law school. He also worked as a reporter for the Tennesseean in Nashville, Tennessee.

In 1976, Gore quit law school to run for Congress in Tennessee’s fourth district. He ran unopposed in the general election and was later re-elected three times. In 1984, he ran successfully for the U.S. Senate where he served on several important committees, including the Armed Services Committee and the Consumer, Science, and Transportation Committee (where he introduced the High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991, which helped to expand the Internet in its early stages).

In 1988, while still a Senator, Gore ran in the presidential primaries, but failed to gain the Democratic nomination. In 1992, Bill Clinton chose Gore as his running mate, and he served as Vice President from 1993 through 2000.

After the Gore/Lieberman ticket lost the 2000 election to Bush by dint of a Supreme Court decision, Gore has been busy making himself a spokesman about the damaging effects of global warming. In addition to his 2006 documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, Gore (along with Richard Branson) has instituted a $25 million dollar prize for the first viable design to remove excess greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere, has orchestrated a series of worldwide concerts for the summer of 2007 to bring attention to the issue of climate change, and chairs an investment firm which seeks out environmentally responsible companies. Gore has also helped to launch the independent TV network Current TV.

Recent criticism from a global-warming-denial think tank has claimed that Gore’s Tennessee mansion uses more energy in a month than the average American household uses in a year. Gore’s spokesperson has said that Gore purchases his energy through renewable energy sources and also purchases carbon offsets for his home energy consumption (as well as every time he takes a plane flight). Gore owns three Toyota Prius cars.

Gore has criticized the war in Iraq from the beginning, saying that Iraq was a diversion from fighting terrorism in Afghanistan. He has also called for a repeal of the Patriot Act and has spoken out against Bush’s tax cuts. Gore is pro-choice and pro-civil union (but against gay marriage). He and his wife, Tipper, live in Nashville, Tennessee. They have four children— Karenna, Kristin, Sarah, and Albert III; and two grandchildren: Wyatt Gore Schiff and Anna Hunger Schiff.

Posted by Eli’s Intern: Sage Van Wing

Previously: John Edwards, John McCain, Bill Richardson, Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, Barack Obama, Sam Brownback, Christopher J. Dodd, Newt Gingrich, Dennis Kucinich, Mike Huckabee, Tom Vilsack, Joe Biden, Duncan Hunter, Tommy Thompson, Ron Paul, James Gilmore III, Tom Tancredo, Wesley Clark, Chuck Hagel, and George Pataki.

RSS icon Comments

1

Good: Clinton/Gore 08
Better: Gore/Obama 08
Best: Gore/B. Clinton 08

Posted by buffalo | March 2, 2007 9:54 AM
2

Power gulping hypocrite asshole. I fucking HATE hypocrites (all politicians?). Please review the mayor's electric bill.

Posted by P. Schell | March 2, 2007 10:09 AM
3

Will he or won't he? That is the million dollar question.

An interesting rumor that I hear occasionally is that the Gores and Clintons are sincerely good friends, and that Gore does NOT want to run against Hillary in the primary. That he would not enter the race unless it were clear that Hillary could not win, could not get the necessary support to mount an effective campaign, or bowed out for some reason. That as long as Hillary is a viable candidate, Gore will sit on the sidelines. This is largely conjecture, but it makes a certain amount of sense, and may explain his obvious hesitation to dive in yet.

My feeling is that I'd welcome him as a candidate only if he dumps all of his handlers from the 2000 campaign. When he goes off-script, and talks about something he is passionate about, he can actually be a charismatic and effective speaker. But when he campaigns by focus group, carefully vetting every word, he becomes the most boring wooden robo-Gore, which is a lot of what cost him the election in 2000 (that and a stacked Supreme Court, of course).

Oh, and he should bitch-slap Lieberman and everyone on the focus group that picked Lieberman as a running mate in 2000.

Posted by SDA in SEA | March 2, 2007 10:20 AM
4

interns deserve a weekly steiped

Posted by erin | March 2, 2007 10:56 AM
5

interns deserve a weekly steiped

Posted by erin | March 2, 2007 10:57 AM
6

Can we caption that lovely photo?

"I told you I wanted bottled water. BOTTLED WATER! And all televisions should be tuned to CNN. C-N-N!"

Posted by Original Andrew | March 2, 2007 11:28 AM
7

Is he angry, or just yawning?

Posted by Mattt | March 2, 2007 11:41 AM
8

To say “Gore is pro-choice and pro-civil union (but against gay marriage)” disregards his actual record on gay rights issues which implies that he is either every bit as homophobic as any other Tennessee cracker or a political opportunist. Either way, not to be trusted.

“At the outset of his Congressional career in 1976, Gore called homosexuality "abnormal." In 1980 he voted for an amendment prohibiting the Legal Services Corp. from assisting homosexuals whose rights were denied because of their sexual orientation. As a senator, Gore repeatedly backed anti-gay measures devised by Jesse Helms that sought to deny legal protections for gay people, and supported an amendment to use HIV tests to discriminate against immigrants and people seeking health insurance. Even worse, Gore voted with Helms to restore the anti-gay sodomy law in the District of Columbia after the local city council tried to repeal it.”

The Weekly News (Miami) on August 31, 2000

Posted by You_Gotta_Be_Kidding_Me | March 2, 2007 12:21 PM
9

can you imagine the photoshop potential?

also, P. Shell, stop it with the electric bill bullcrap. Gore may indeed be a power mad JO, but find some actual evidence, would ya? There is so much factual evidence to the contrary that it isn't even worth pointing it out. Not that facts ever impress people like you...

Posted by Mike in MO | March 2, 2007 1:24 PM
10

Mike in MO-

Please list a few pieces of factual evidence to the contrary. How could you possibly own a 10,000 sq ft mansion and not use that much power? I will be impressed, trust me.

(and don't give me "it's all green power"; he said he is working on changing light bulbs and adding solar panels.)

I HATE people who defend hypocrites most of all.

Posted by P. Schell | March 2, 2007 1:34 PM
11

The Photoshop potential is massive.
That must be the same face he would make while going down on a rather impressive beer can boy... (or taking it up the ass from the same).

Posted by You_Gotta_Be_Kidding_Me | March 2, 2007 1:41 PM
12

Gore/Obama 08 - that's my prediction.

Can I buy that on a bumpersticker somewhere?

Posted by Will in Seattle | March 2, 2007 2:25 PM
13

For Gore to say he makes up for his coal energy use by buying Green Power, is like Erica B., who drives a Hummer Limo, makes up for her gas consumption buy buying all of her friends bicycles (assuming she has friends). Sure it all equals out, but how about getting rid of the Hummer jackass?

Still waiting for the facts Mike in MO. You piss me off.

Paul

Posted by P. Schell | March 2, 2007 3:24 PM
14

snore.......

Posted by ME | March 2, 2007 7:33 PM
15

Dear P Schell:

Here you go:

1. The Tennessee Center for Policy Research (which, BTW apparently does no actual policy "research"), is a store-front organization funded by the Cascade Policy Institute, itself a libertarian "think-tank" based out of Portland, OR. So, not exactly the "independent, non-partisan institute" (can a three-person, one-room office with a P.O. box, a web site, and a $108,000 annual budget actually qualify as an "institute"?)

2. Both The Tennessee Vally Authority and the Nashville Electric Service, which supply power to the Gore residence, flatly deny providing TCPR with the figures quoted, despite being listed as the source of attribution.

3. NES does confirm that the Gore's purchase 100% of their allowable monthly power usage through Green Power Switch, a program that offers residential customers the opportunity to purchase power directly from renewable, non-polluting sources such as wind, and solar. In addition, they have installed solar panels, and low-energy output florescent lighting throughout their home. The remainder of their "carbon footprint" is covered through the purchase of "carbon offsets", thus reducing their total CF to 0%.

4. KWh rates through Green Power Switch are higher than for standard power purchased through NES; thus a higher monthly billing for equivalent usage.

5. In addition to living in the residence, the Gore's also run two businesses out of their home, thus increasing overall energy consumption above that of a similarly sized house.

6. As a former Vice President of the United States, Mr. Gore also houses a contingent of Secret Service personnel at his residence, which also increases his power consumption above that of the average household.

All of this took less than 15 minutes to dig up - from reliable sources such as The Associated Press, the Nashville Tennesseean, Nashville Electricity Service, et al.

Try it yourself sometime P Schell - facts can be fun!

Posted by COMTE | March 2, 2007 9:15 PM
16

That still doesn't change what I said. Those facts still prove he is a hypocrite. Sell your two Priuss, move into a Yurt, purchase Yurts for your needed security, and practice what you preach. His big ass house still burns coal. Offsets-smoffsets. I called 10 black people niggas the other day; to make up for it, I helped 10 black old ladies across the street. I made black folks happy, and ten mad! EQUAL!

Your blind baby, blind from the facts on who you are because you're talkin that garbage. Look at his big ass house.

Posted by P. Schell | March 4, 2007 11:42 AM

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