Sioux City Journal

Al Gore: Hero or has-been?

Posted: Monday, February 26, 2007

At the time of this writing, the Academy Awards is a future event and its outcome yet to be determined. Much like one of its nominees and his cause. Al Gore and global warming.

If Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” (nominated for Best Documentary), was a winner last night, I can only hope viewers were not Gored with a painful acceptance speech that ran a quart low on personality and started something like this: “I’d like to thank the Academy. Now, let’s have a conversation about conservation.” The chill of Al Gore’s stiff delivery could be a one-man global warming ending machine. If he is truly concerned about keeping temperatures at a minimum, then he will not have tried to heat up the floor of the awards ceremony by planting another contrived lip lock on wife Tipper ala the 2000 Democratic National Convention.

Al Gore is positioning himself as the champion of his pet cause, global warming. This begs the question whether it’s passion or politics that drive his carbon-burning, jet-setting travels around the globe to speak on the subject. He has given no reason to believe he is anything other than just another politician in pursuit of power and influence.

Academy Awards recognition and a Nobel Peace Prize nomination are powerful media-driven events and perfect backdrops for launching a presidential run. If he chooses to do so, what are his chances at becoming the next president of the United States?

Of course, he would first have to sew up the Democratic nomination. Not an easy feat considering Hillary will soon show the world what a money raising machine her campaign is. No individual candidate will be able to match Hillary dollar for dollar. To gain respectable polling number traction, he will have to curry favor with the heavily left-leaning media by promoting causes they are sympathetic to.

Being the darling of the environmental left is a start. However, if his candidacy gets tagged as a one-trick pony, that horse will fade down the stretch. If he somehow pulls off the nomination, he faces two new challengers. The Republican nominee and Gore fatigue.

The 2000 presidential race ended with Al Gore dragging the American people through a vote-challenging, chad-counting, court-driven circus. Like Vietnam, Watergate, Iran-Contra, and Monica Lewinsky, the American people like to get scandals behind us and forget about them and their exhausting drama and inherent indignity. Given this, the sun may have set on Al Gore’s presidential chances.

Al Gore’s advisors should do the man a favor and tell him if he chooses to run for president, he is a has-been. On the other hand, if he continues his bid for the title of undisputed heavyweight champ of global warming he can be the hero of the Hollywood left, the left-leaning media, and the environmental left. Which begs another question. Is Al Gore a southpaw?

Michael McNeil is a free-lance writer from Dakota City, Neb. You can write to him in care of The Journal or at lvrcomments@hotmail.com.

Story Comments

Thanks Richard Craig wrote on Apr 2, 2007 4:56 PM:

" Craig's comments show just how much a hyprocite Bush really is. Bush is a Big Oil Businessman and his house doesn't use a drop of oil??? He spent money on avoiding the high gas prices but tells america not to do the same. What a hyprocite, I am soooooo TIRED of BUSH! "

Richard Craig wrote on Mar 30, 2007 6:03 AM:

" True? 1: A 20-room mansion (+8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas. Plus pool & pool house, & guest house heated by gas. In ONE MONTH it consumes more energy than average American household in a YEAR. Average bill for electricity and natural gas $2,400.00/mo. Natural gas alone, consumes more than 20x normal American home. 2: This house = 4,000 sqft. In the southwest. Central closet holds geothermal heat pumps drawing ground water through pipes in ground. Water heats house in winter, cools in summer. Uses no fossil fuels, oil, natural gas. Consumes 25% of electricity required for conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from roof is collected, funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks, toilets, goes into underground purifying tanks, then into cistern. The collected water irrigates land surrounding house. 1 is outside of Nashville, TN, the home of Al Gore. 2 is on a ranch near Crawford, Texas, owned by President, George W. Bush. So whose house is gentler on environment? Mr. Gore, it's truly "an inconvenient truth." "

Bill wrote on Mar 25, 2007 8:01 AM:

" Well Gouge, if there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, how do you explain the fact that 500 artillery shells were unearthed, containing Sarin Gas??? How did it get there, Did President Bush Plant it there in the dark of night??? "

Edward, wrote on Mar 25, 2007 7:56 AM:

" gouge, you are wrong again. Are you a weather man??? The Uranium was not declared prior to the second invasion. this is uranium that was unknown of at the time. Second, if you would look at the Transcripts of the testimony of the Iraqi Generals, you would see, when exactly the WMD's were transported to Syria. I find it funny that you live by reports of the CIA, when their reports support your theories, but you condemn then as incompetents, when they disprove your theories. "

gouge wrote on Mar 13, 2007 2:13 PM:

" Well Leah, I think you have to look at Al Gore's use of energy at his home: first, he pays 1/3 more than he has to, buying blocks of green energy- second he and his wife have their offices there -I can only imagine it takes a serious staff/energy to be Al Gore, -then there is the secret service who must be accomodated........Al Gore is doing a great thing. He has been involved in global ecology for 30 years.....way before it became what it is now appearing to be -ie the pressing issue of our time..this is not a right-left issue..we have, as a race, some serious problems looming -problems which require serious people (unlike that spoiled frat-boy clown we now have in office)-problems that require that, we re-tool, build different modes of transportation, that we set aside our respective differences and work together- to do what we can to save the only environment we now have available to us- "