In 2001, the Seattle Mariners set an MLB record by winning 116 games, but they flamed out in the playoffs and were not World Champs. But I am guessing that now, some 14 years later, that team is not going to get back together and try to win it all again.
Back in 2000 Al Gore, for all intents and purposes, “won” more votes from the populous at-large than George W. Bush, but ultimately fell short in his bid to win the White House. But here we are, some 15 years later and rumor has it Gore is going to give it another shot.
The Democrats right now are led by Hilary Clinton, whose husband was of course President when Gore was Vice President. Bernie Sanders is also coming on strong in the polls for the Democrats, so Gore would have his work come out for him
But before all the fans of the “inventor of the internet” and one of the environment’s best friends, get all excited, sources within the party say nothing has been determined yet. Gore has not made any formal or informal moves to join the race, nor has he met with any political advisors yet.
Still, the Nobel Peace Laureate and founder of Current TV know he still enjoys a lot of favor within the party. Right now, without doing anything, Gore could count on about 3.3 percent of all Democrats voting for him, this according to a recent Reuters poll. Of course, that is the same amount of Democrats that would vote for George Clooney too, but it is also far fewer than the almost 19 percent that would vote for former President Bill Clinton, if he wasn’t barred from ever running again.
With all the turmoil in the other party right now, the time is right for the Democrats to take the White House for at least another four years. With Hilary having issues with her e-mails and Sanders still being a relative unknown amongst most voters, the time may be perfect for Gore to “strike” so to speak and take his shot at the place most Americans think he should have been back in 2002, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Personally, I think it would be much better for both the Democrats and the country for Gore to hitch his wagon to one of the current candidates, and stump for them. If Sanders or Hilary got a fully-fledged endorsement from Gore, it would go a long way to not only winning the party’s nomination but helping defeat the Republicans.
But it is not always easy to stay out of the limelight when you have an opportunity to recapture the one that got away, even if it is 15 years later. The issue becomes, will it be a chance to right a wrong, or will Gore end up like Captain Ahab, but instead of trying to capture the White Whale, he is trying to capture the White House.