Democrat Al Gore, once seen by many in his own political party as a loser, is enjoying a rather nice winning streak. Now he has a Nobel Peace Prize to put on his mantel beside the Oscar he won for the documentary film, “An Inconvenient Truth.”According to this Reuters story about this morning’s announcement about the Nobel Prize the odds that Gore will go on to win yet another highly-coveted prize are improving.
British bookmakers once put 100-to-1 odds on Gore winning an Oscar, becoming a Nobel laureate and becoming president. He has now accomplished two of the three, and on Friday bookies slashed the odds to 8/1 from 10/1.Following Gore’s 2000 loss to President George Bush, Gore seemed about as washed up as it gets. Republicans mocked him for being boring. Democrats were disgusted with what a terrible campaign he had waged. But here we are, seven years later, and 59-year-old Al Gore seems capable of instantly becoming a top-tier candidate should he choose to hear the call of the Draft Gore movement and throw his hat into the ring.
Gore’s experience in politics trumps everyone in the field. He was in Congress for 16 years, eight in the House of Representatives (1977-‘85), then eight in the Senate (1985-‘93). And, of course, for eight years he served as vice president (1993-‘01).
Prior to his years in politics he worked as a reporter in Nashville. Gore had previously received some training as a journalist during his time in the Army (he volunteered), which included covering the war on the ground in Vietnam for five months.
Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards, the current top three Democratic candidates, combined, have less experience in elective office than Gore. And, none of them has come close to winning an Oscar or a Nobel. Could a rehabilitated, prize-winning Al Gore be the perfect candidate for the Democrats for 2008?
-- Gore illustration for Richmond.com in 2000 by F.T. Rea
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