Why Al Gore Shouldn't Run
With a Nobel Peace Prize, does he really need the Oval Office?
2007-10-12
By Eric Easter
Gandhi. Mandela. King. Mother Theresa. Lech Walesa. Linus Pauling. Ralph Bunche. Elie Wiesel. Anwar Sadat. Teddy Roosevelt.
Richard Nixon. George W. Bush. Calvin Coolidge. Ronald Reagan. James Buchanan. Benjamin Harrison. Franklin Pierce.
Which list would you rather be on? Sure, I've stacked the deck a bit, but that¹s beside the point. History has been kind to first group, cruel to the second.
Despite all the talk about Al Gore's Nobel win giving him a perfect foundation to run for president, in truth it's the surest sign yet that he absolutely will not run at least not in 2008. And why would he? In winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Al Gore has done the impossible: He¹s become an ex-president without ever having to be president. It¹s only downhill from here.
Not to downplay his achievement, but on the strength of an Oscar winning movie and a great PowerPoint presentation, he has achieved the kind of global stature reserved for people who face down armies, lift their people from oppression, spend significant chunks of their life in jail cells, get hosed, beaten or otherwise risk death at the hands of the opposition.
And he¹s done in with an issue that not only has not been solved, but that half the world¹s people and a great many scientists won¹t even agree actually exists. Perhaps he should have won years ago. By virtue of inventing the internet, he¹s already saved thousands of trees by killing the newspaper industry.
If he stops now he becomes immortal. You're a Nobel winner forever. No one takes back a Nobel for steroid usage. Gore can now command untold millions in speaking fees and board memberships and be taken seriously on any issue he desires to speak on, even UFOs (see Jimmy Carter). Clearly as a Nobel laureate he will have much more influence on global warming than as leaders of the nation that surpasses all in harmful emissions.
Best of all, if he doesn't run, just as we never had to see JFK get old, we¹d never get to see Al Gore fail either in the running to win or the running of the country. Not that he wouldn¹t be a successful commander-in-chief, but the presidency is a game of great victories and crashing losses. He¹d likely win the battle for ethanol, but lose miserably on health care. He might get a moderate or another minority on the Supreme Court, but he'd lose on education funding or increasing trade to Africa.
No he won't run. He's nothing if not smart. Redemption is a fleeting thing, and the millions of people angry at him for not growing a new pair until after he lost are finally back on his side. Gore has friends now. Why run and make enemies?