From The Santa Barbara Independent
“The People’s President”
The Draft Al Gore For President Movement
By Marta Jorgensen, co-regional director of AlGore.org (AGO), Southwest chapter.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
“In my heart, I do believe that democracy was harmed by my network and others on November 7, 2000.”
—?Roger Ailes, chairman and CEO of Fox News Network, February 14, 2001. (How to Steal an Election, David W. Moore)
Most of us remember painfully well the 2000 election. But some of us aren’t content to let it be simply a painful memory.
In 2002, a dedicated group of individuals who had been involved with Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign set up a Web site called gore04.org and organized a rally in Nashville, Tennessee. Gore told them to stop. He wasn’t into it. In the middle of 2006, the group got it rolling again, teaming up with AlGore.org (AGO) and working with other sites such as draftgore.com, meetup.com, and algoresupportcenter.com. To date, the combined Draft Gore Movement has collected 120,000-plus signatures urging Gore to run. And this time Gore hasn’t told us to cut it out.
The Draft Gore Movement is a labor of love on the part of its rapidly growing membership. Members and organizers do not have deep pockets, but use their own resources and intelligence to try to accomplish what mainstream political parties accomplish with their special-interest money and media spin doctors. They intend to place his name on the primary state ballots and put in place a voting base. Just in case …
Why all this effort? Why not support one of the Democratic candidates who has officially thrown his or her hat in the ring? To put it bluntly, none of them come close to Gore. He has established relationships with numerous world leaders, is well-liked internationally, and is not in anyone’s pocket.
Given the Bush administration’s unprecedented expansion of the unitary executive and sweeping constitutional changes, our next presidency may mean the difference between preserving our constitution and the principles upon which this country was founded, and losing them forever. Gore put it best himself in his 2006 speech, “Restoring the Rule of Law”: “If the pattern of practice begun by this administration is not challenged, it may well become a permanent part of the American system. Many conservatives have pointed out that granting unchecked power to this president means that the next president will have unchecked power as well. And the next president may be someone whose values and belief you do not trust.” The Clintons were involved in various breaches of constitutional law while in office, including allegations that Hillary’s brothers received large sums of money in exchange for requesting (and obtaining) presidential pardons. Both John Edwards and Barack Obama are too inexperienced to adeptly lead America out of its current constitutional and diplomatic crisis.
Gore would make the climate crisis the number one issue for 2008, a necessary agenda no candidate from either party has adopted. By unifying world powers in pursuit of the goal to save our planet, Gore would restore America’s standing in the world, thereby changing the global dialogue on other geopolitical crises as well. If elected president, Gore would: eliminate all payroll taxes and replace that revenue with pollution taxes, principally on CO2; help negotiate a stronger second-generation Kyoto Treaty; create an “Electranet,” a smart electricity grid that would allow individuals and businesses to buy and sell electricity, forcing them to monitor their own consumption; and promote profitable alternative energy business models. Gore is also committed to ending the war in Iraq, which goes hand in hand with reducing our dependence on oil.
In The Assault on Reason, Gore stated, “Many Americans now feel that our government is unresponsive and that no one in a position of power listens to or cares what they think. They feel disconnected from democracy. They feel that one vote makes no difference, and that they, as individuals, now have no practical means of participating in America’s self-government.” Gore is well connected with the citizenry, even engaging in citizens’ Web blog discussions from time to time. As president, he would restore public participation in politics.
Gore has stated that he can accomplish his goals as a private citizen, without getting caught up in the political game. But that can only go so far. Real change in governance must come from the executive. The goal of the Draft Gore Movement is to show him that the people want him to run, and that he has enough popular support to win. According to a recent 7NEWS / Suffolk University poll, 32 percent of Democratic voters would support Gore over the candidate toward which they are currently leaning.
That’s why the Draft Gore effort is becoming so insistent and vocal. Members have shown up at all of The Assault on Reason book-signings. In Los Angeles recently, the “Gore People” were in full force, handing out Gore ’08 buttons, signs, and gear to the 2,000 attendees. Gore said he was “flabbergasted” by the level of organization.
This is real democracy in action. Since 2000, a sizable part of the nation has grown from its pain, is less naïve, and more politically active and vocal, thanks to the Internet. Gore has also grown from his pain, as a man and as a leader. He would be the People’s President. It’s high time the nation and the leader shook hands.
Visit AlGore.org to get involved.

Our latest project: Getting his name on the CA
Primary Ballot.