A funny thing happened when the Deaniacs were asked to decide who they might want to back for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.
The supporters of the 2004 presidential campaign of former Vermont Governor Howard Dean and their allies, who form the base of the Democracy for America organization nationally, have been participating in recent days in a poll to see whether a liberal “consensus candidate” can be identified.
It’s an online vote, certainly not a scientific survey.
But the voting so far has been revealing. The announced candidates for the Democratic nod are all pictured on the DFA website — www.democracyforamerica.com — and several of them have taken advantage of the opportunity offered them by the group to dispatch emails explaining their candidacies to DFA lists.
So who is winning as the contest heads toward its November 5 conclusion — a date that conveniently falls two months before Iowa Democrats will be attending what could well be definitional caucuses?
It’s not Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama or even John Edwards, who has made a serious play for DFA support.
The front-runner is a write-in candidate: former Vice President Al Gore.
Here’s how the numbers looked as of Monday afternoon:
Al Gore: 26,499 or 26.68%
Dennis Kucinich: 23,951 or 24.11%
Barack Obama: 18,253 or 18.38%
John Edwards: 15,065 or 15.17%
Bill Richardson: 5,726 or 5.76%
Hillary Clinton: 4,421 or 4.45%
Chris Dodd: 1,551 or 1.56%
Joe Biden: 997 or 1%
Mike Gravel: 814 or 0.82%
Gore has maintained a lead for more than a week. His unexpected showing tells us two things:
1. Gore has genuine support among progressives. DFA poll participants had to go to extra trouble to write his name in and got no prompting from the group on the possibility of going for the former vice president and 2004 Dean backer. This suggests that, for so long as Gore teases about a race, former “Draft Gore” activists and their grassroots allies — who have stepped up their activism in Iowa and New Hampshire and other early caucus and primary states will find support for their entreaties.
2. The Gore possibility is a serious problem for announced candidates who seek to position themselves as alternatives to presumed Democratic front-runner Clinton. DFA rules require that a candidate get more than 66 percent of the vote to earn an endorsement from the group, which maintains a reasonably solid infrastructure nationally and which serves as a useful bully pulpit among liberal Democrats. It is unlikely that Kucinich, Obama or Edwards could get to the 66 percent level even without the loss of 27 percent of the vote for someone who isn’t even running. But with the write-ins going to Gore, there is little likelihood that any announced candidate will get near the numbers that are needed for an endorsement.
16 Comments
+ at 10:22 am
Gore also trails Hillary by only 5% in the polls and he isn’t even running.
+ at 11:37 am
great link Chistopher, thanks. Dammit i just cannot get over the wee snag…the dude ain’t running ! We seriously do need a plan B -
+ at 12:15 pm
Not just the Deaniacs but all disenfranchised Democrats unhappy with the current field of candidates running for president. This is a true grassroots movement that reaches beyond the mainstream Democratic machine. I think the mainstream Democratic frontrunners should be afraid, very afraid of the power of Al Gore and his supporters.
+ at 12:29 pm
Greetings Gore Supporters!
More than 200,000 have heard the call to convince Al Gore to run for president in 2008.
Petition efforts are underway to add Gore’s name to the primary ballots in states ranging from from Michigan, to Illinois, to New York, to Pennsylvania, to Florida, to Arizona, to California and Washington. The passion people have for Al Gore is unlike anything most of us have seen in our political lives. Older voters say it reminds them of the enthusiasm young and old voters alike had for JFK.
We can turn the next presidential race around and with a little effort — a signature, the Democratic party can be reborn to include the values and ideals we so badly miss.
+ at 12:42 pm
I think Gore is the only force of nature capable of derailing the Hillary Express.
None of the other Demcoratc candidates have the name recognition, the money, or the operation to put her in 3rd or 4th place, which is where she belongs. Plus, I’m really freaked out about the rapid onset of climate change. I’ve got two kids and a grandchild on the way. I need to think about the state of the planet they will inherit from my generation and our greed.
+ at 1:45 pm
I love this Gore quote:
“There’s an African proverb that says, ‘If you want to go quick, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’ We have to go far quickly.” – Al Gore
Great, huh?
+ at 1:51 pm
Until I hear Gore make a Sherman speech, I hold onto the hope he’s watching and waiting for the Democratic field to thin out and a front runner to emerge. Then, like a panther, he will pounce on his prey.
+ at 2:00 pm
Julie,
New Hampshire, New England and New Jersey also have organized DRAFT GORE organizations up and running. There are more than a 100 smaller, local DRAFT GORE groups just getting off the ground.
It’s very exciting and fills me with hope. I received and email from someone saying they’re about to launch a Minnesota for Gore group too.
+ at 2:30 pm
Did you guys see Ken Rudin’s hit piece on Gore on the NPR site? I assume he presented it on-air too but, I don’t listen to NPR anymore, now that they’ve done a 180′ turn to the right.
Anyway, Rudin went to remind us that we have two short months until the Iowa and New Hampshire caucuses and how most Democratic voters appear happy with their choices, re: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards, so it’s foolhardy to try to draft Vice President Gore and his supporters need to “just get over it?”
Strange how Rudin says most Democrats are happy with their choices for 2008. I just saw a poll that said 50% of voters won’t vote for Hillary Clinton under any circumstances. The same poll said by a margin of 58%/42% the same voters won’t support Rudy Guiliani.
I guess NPR is drinking the koolaid nowadays.
+ at 2:36 pm
joost – It doesn’t surprise me one bit. NPR sucks. Remember, NPR gave Fox News that witch, Mara Liason.
+ at 2:59 pm
Until Gore gets in the race, it’s Edwards for me. All the way.
http://liberallymirth.wordpress.com/2007/10/28/the-primaries/
+ at 4:43 pm
Cross-posted at DailyKos:
We need your Help to get AL Gore on the Florida Primary Ballot. The Deadline is October 31st!
We are close to having the Gore Window Close, but we can accomplish this task and show Mr Gore that his leadership is what the country needs in 2008.
Abraham Running For Congress When I Turn 25’s diary :: ::
This is copied from and Ad that ran in some newspapers in Florida.
(DEADLINE OCTOBER 31st!)
IF YOU BELIEVE THAT
AL GORE
IS THE BEST CHOICE AMERICA HAS
FOR PRESIDENT
CALL THE FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY
AND TELL THEM YOU WANT GORE’S NAME ON THE
JANUARY 29th PRIMARY BALLOT
NO AREA OF THE COUNTRY WILL SUFFER GREATER DAMAGE
FROM SEA LEVEL RISE DUE TO GLOBAL WARMING THAN SOUTH FLORIDA.
DOESN’T IT MAKE SENSE TO HAVE A LEADER WHO CAN SEE A
PROBLEM AND ACT BEFORE IT BECOMES A CRISIS?
AL GORE:
RIGHT ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING
RIGHT ABOUT IRAQ
RIGHT FOR FLORIDA
OCTOBER 31st IS THE DEADLINE, SO SEND AN E-MAIL TO THE FLORIDA
DEMOCRATIC PARTY
TELLING THEM YOU WANT AL GORE ON THE FLORIDA PRIMARY BALLOT.
CONTACT DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR KAREN THURMAN
850-222-3411
email(at)fladems(dot)com
Thank you!
+ at 5:40 pm
Christopher:
If Gore gets in I want you to let me know as soon as your sources reveal it.
Currently I am supporting Edwards but my world would take a serious left turn to Gore.
+ at 7:11 pm
No one likes Gore more than me but, I must say his riddle-like replies about not running and then running, and so on and so forth, is a lot like going sideways down a straight road. If Gore’s waiting to “pounce” as feminazi suggests, then pounce and let us get behind him. But if he really has no interest in 2008, he needs to hold a formal press conference and say so.
+ at 8:50 pm
Supermarket magnate Ron Burkle recently valued Al Gore’s Current TV at $2 billion, the New York Times reports. You’d think that Burkle, one of Current’s backers, would know when the produce is not quite ripe. By contrast, NBC Universal recently purchased the nine-year-old Oxygen Network for $925 million. Note that ComScore reports Current’s site as averaging only 152,000 unique visitors a month. Sure, we should probably expect this kind of thing after Microsoft set Facebook’s value at $15 billion. But still. I know the guy won a Nobel Prize and all. But anybody else starting to doubt global warming?
+ at 10:50 am
you all can throw pies at me , and tell me see see see we told you so..But it seems really wierd to me..if you like him so much Why the hell are you trying to get him to do something he does NOT want to do. How would you feel if a bunch of desparate americans tried to draft you for something you didn’t want to do. He is NOT gonna go head to head with Shillery. He is not going to undermine the other Dem Candidates…He is too much of an “dem institution” kind of guy. He does NOT want to be president. I really do not get this mania – hell i want Pedro for president it doesn’t mean he is gonna run – really i would like to see Kucinich win that ain’t gonna happen either. I will still wear my Kucinich sweatshirt and have bumper stickers , because he is the U turn this country needs. Sooo that leaves me in harm reduction mode…anybody but Hillary. I will only vote in the primaries. If Hillary is the nominee..NO i will not collude in that. It will be over for me. Let the war mongers do their thing without me. I will sit out the general election.