Is Al Gore Running for President Again?

Former Vice-President Al Gore is shown in a scene of 'An Inconvenient Truth' in this undated studio handout photo. (CP PHOTO/HO, Paramount Classics - Eric Lee)

Looks like we've got another speculation story on Al Gore running for president. This is from Yahoo News:

WASHINGTON - Al Gore is running to California, New York, Utah, Washington, France and points in between to promote "An Inconvenient Truth," a film chronicling his elaborate slide shows to educate people about global warming.

But is the former vice president running for president again?

The answer, he says, is no. Some Democrats are not so sure.

"I'm a recovering politician on about Step 9," Gore told The Associated Press. "But I'm on a different kind of campaign now — to persuade people to take action to solve the climate crisis, and it's always easier when you're focused on one thing."

While Al Gore may say he's not running for president, the truth is that he is the strongest Democratic contendor to the White House, at this time. Hillary Clinton is still too controversial for the Republicans to swallow. Russ Feingold is too much of an unknown in Middle America. John Edwards has been out of politics, and out of the media spotlight. Joe Lieberman has aligned himself too closely to Bush.

But Al Gore is still strong. He has been in the media spotlight--especially with his speeches criticizing the Bush administration's failed policy in Iraq. He is now in the media, promoting his film on global warming. And he has generated a lot of buzz in the liberal and progressive blogs. With President Bush's approval numbers falling to 29 percent, and the country on the verge of a Bush scandal, war, and cronyism fatigue, Al Gore is in a sweet position to take the 2008 presidency--if he wants it. Continuing on:

For most of his adult life, Gore was focused on the presidency. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in 1988 and served as vice president under President Clinton from 1993-2001. He narrowly lost the 2000 presidential campaign to George W. Bush, despite collecting more popular votes than the Texas Republican.

He's a richer man for his loss--literally. Gore is a senior adviser to Google Inc., a member of the Apple Computer Inc., board and co-founder and chairman of an investment firm.

Gore is a longtime opponent of the Iraq war, which makes him a favorite of liberal Internet-savvy Democrats who dominate the party's emerging "netroots." And with his advocacy of climate change awareness, Gore is the leading voice on an issue that Republicans and Democrats alike say is gaining prominence among voters.

It's an issue that inspires passion in Gore, something his fellow Democrats say he lacked in 2000.

"If he's the guy we see today, I think he'd be formidable," said Joe Trippi, a Democratic consultant who helped run Howard Dean's Internet-fueled presidential campaign in 2004.

"I think the real danger is if he were to run as an independent. If he did that, he would wreak havoc on the race in 2008," Trippi said. "He could say, 'I've been out of the system and we have to do it in a different way. I want to lead the way.'"

Kathleen Sullivan, chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, said Gore looks better each day Bush is president.

"For some people, it took six years of George Bush to wake up and realize that Al Gore was the real deal," Sullivan said.

We will have to see what happens in 2008.