Gore deflects US election pleas

Gore deflects US election pleas
By Andrew Ward in Washington
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: July 6 2007 19:12 | Last updated: July 6 2007 19:12


With 16 months before the US elects a new president, the race for the White House has developed a strongly New York flavour.

The leading Republican hopeful is Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, the Democratic frontrunner is New York Senator Hillary Clinton, and the current New York mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is considered a potential independent candidate.

But there is another place in the US that could yet steal centre-stage before next year’s poll.

For months, political enthusiasts in Tennessee have been fantasising about a match-up between two of the state’s best-known political sons: Al Gore and Fred Thompson.

One half of Tennessee’s dream ticket has edged closer to reality over recent weeks as Mr Thompson has emerged as an increasingly serious contender for the Republican nomination.

The senator-turned-actor, best known for his role as a gruff district attorney in the series Law and Order has become the focus of grassroots dissatisfaction with the party’s candidates, promoting himself as a straight-talking conservative in the mould of Ronald Reagan.

One poll this week showed him leading the Republican field even before he has declared his candidacy, while others put him in a strong second place behind Mr Giuliani. Formal announcement of his entry into the race is expected soon.

Mr Gore, by contrast, is proving much more resistant to calls to join the contest.

Polls show the former vice-president and former Tennessee senator in third place – behind Ms Clinton and Barack Obama but ahead of John Edwards – in spite of his repeated insistence that he will not make a second bid for the White House.

Mr Gore, who lost the disputed 2000 presidential election to George W. Bush, has been the focus of fresh speculation this week as he prepared for Live Earth, a series of concerts to be held around the world on July 7 to highlight climate change.

Some have seen his high-profile involvement in the concerts as a sign of a search for headlines in preparation for entering the race. But speaking during a round of television interviews to promote Live Earth, he offered no encouragement to those who would like him to run. “I don’t expect to be a candidate again ever,” he said. “I’ve kind of fallen out of love with politics.”

Mr Gore said he had not yet decided which Democratic candidate to endorse and would make his choice based on their policies for tackling climate change.

Larry Sabato, politics professor at the University of Virginia, says the continued speculation about Mr Gore reflects concern among some Democrats about the political risk of nominating the first woman or African-American presidential candidate. As a white, southern, male, Mr Gore would be a safer choice.

“Some Democrats are looking for an alternative to Clinton and Obama and they see Gore as the best option,” he says. “But they are going to be disappointed because there is zero possibility of Gore running.”