By Dr. Nayyer Ali

Al Gore Should Run

July 20, 2007

 

With over a year to go for the next Presidential election, the campaign is already in full swing. Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama lead the Democratic field, while the Republicans are led by Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, and John McCain. However, there is one obvious candidate who has remained on the sidelines: Al Gore.
July the year before the election seems way too early to even be paying attention to this question, but the Presidential election timetable has changed drastically in this cycle. The main change is the primary calendar, by which the parties choose their nominees. In elections past, the first primary would be New Hampshire in February, followed over the next several weeks by a slow procession of states, with the bulk of delegates picked in April and May. This slow process allowed candidates to raise modest amounts of funds early, try to gain traction by winning in the first few states, and then parley that into fundraising that would allow them to win the nomination.
But now, the individual states have all moved up their election dates in a race to become more important to the candidates. This has pushed the New Hampshire primary into January, followed by a massive multi-state primary three weeks later that includes most of the largest states. Essentially, the primary season will be over by early March, when in previous years it is just getting started. Because of this, candidates need to raise and spend their money this year to develop national appeal so that they can win the nomination next year. Which is why the campaign is already in full swing. All of the candidates have raised tens of millions of dollars and put together full staffs and operations.
On the Republican side, the early front-runner, Senator John McCain, has stumbled badly. He has lagged in fundraising, and has had to fire staff and shrink his operation. His two most senior aides just quit, signifying how much disarray there is. McCain was hurt badly by his support of Bush’s amnesty plans for illegal aliens, which goes down very badly with conservative Republicans.
McCain’s past record of opposition to tax cuts and support for campaign finance reform also cost him support among conservatives. He is now running a distant third in opinion polls.
Rudy Giuliani is the leader now, but he remains an unknown quantity to most Republicans. In fact, Giuliani is a liberal on many social issues, including his support for abortion rights. In addition, other than being the mayor of New York on 9/11, it is hard to see why he is qualified to be President. He is staking his campaign on convincing the public terrorism is the greatest issue facing the country, and only he knows how to deal with it. Never mind that there has not been a single terrorist attack in the US since 9/11.
Mitt Romney is running second for the Republicans. He is not a powerhouse figure though. The former governor of Massachusetts, he is also a Mormon, which does not play well with many evangelical Christians in the Republican party. He also supported in the past many social issues that most conservatives opposed. He has now flipped his views to be more palatable to them, but that will probably not be sufficient.
On the Democratic side, Barack Obama has raised the most money in either party. His oratorical skills are excellent, and the country is probably ready to elect a black man. He has a Muslim grandfather, and his middle name is Hussein, but that probably won’t hurt him. However, he is only a first-term senator, and lacks the experience to be President at this point. He would make an excellent Vice-Presidential choice though, and I expect him to be offered that slot by whoever wins the nomination for the Democrats.
Hilary Clinton is the front-runner for the Democrats. She has the experience and the Clinton name behind her, and a formidable political network. But there are many in the country that don’t like her, and there is also a general fatigue with the Bush/Clinton/Bush/Clinton(?) pattern that we have fallen into. America wants to vote for a strong and experienced Democrat, but would like someone other than Hilary Clinton.
This is where Al Gore comes in. With his experience and name recognition, he will not be handicapped by staying out of the race until September or October. If he announces his candidacy then, he will still be able to attract high quality people to his campaign and raise adequate funds. He has an excellent record in the last eight years of opposing Bush’s Iraq War before it even started, and his leadership on global warming is now being recognized by most as ahead of its time. Al Gore running with Barack Obama would be a very strong ticket, and would likely beat any Republican, who will be running with the albatross of Iraq around his neck. Comments can reach me at Nali@socal.rr.com.

 

PREVIOUSLY

Deflating Japan

Bush’s Axis of Evil

Speaking to Non-Muslims

If Arafat Were Jinnah

The Shape of Things to Come

South Asia Expert Calls for Negotiations on Kashmir

Kashmir After the Cold War

Kashmir Quagmire: How It Started

Kashmir: Where We’ve Been

Make Way for the Euro

Will there Be a Muslim Palestine?

Careful, Careful

Our Growing Community

Pakistan’s Golden Opportunity

Musharraf’s Reform Plans

Pakistan’s Afghan Dilemma

Humanity on the Move

Strategies of America, Pakistan and Benazir

Winners and Losers

America’s Strategy Defang the Fundamentalists

The Noose Tightens

Pakistan in America

Musharraf’s Moment

A Sad Day for America, A Sad Day for Islam

Repeal the Blasphemy Law

Bush’s Stem Cell Compromise

The Depressing Stock Market

An Evening on Human Development

“Benazir” Takes Over in Indonesia

Race Riots in Britain

Global Warming or Just Hot Air?

Milosevic on Trial

Russia’s Collapse

Economic Recovery in Pakistan?

President Khatami’s Re-election

Lifting Sanctions on Pakistan

Israel’s Moral Burden

A Break in the Logjam?

The Second American Century

Pakistan’s Constitution

Dr. Lodhi in Los Angeles

Literacy: The Road Forward

Why Yusuf Can't Read

Literacy: The Glass is Half Full

Blowing Up Buddha

A Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Pakistan

Did You See the Moon?

Cornrows, Ali Khan, and Culture

Will the Children Go To Harvard?

Muslim Political Progress

Information Technology Gets A Boost

Sand and Oil

On Lieberman

Pakistan Builds A Tank

Kashmir in the Nuclear Age

Full Speed Ahead on Privatization

A Muslim France?

Too Much Food

Watching the Election Why Are We Hollywood’s Villains?

A Tyrant Falls

Taliban Victorious

The Walking Whale of Pakistan
The Joy of Air Travel?

The Amazing American Economy
Arafat and Jerusalem

Names For The Children

Population: Too Many or Too Few?

It Does Matter

Aziz Goes For Growth

The Military Government's First Budget

L'Affaire Salam

End Sanctions on Iraq

Third World Democracy

Light Weapons Trade on the Rise

Iran Reforms

Back to the Future

The Saudis and OPEC Mature

How Can We Help Pakistan Develop?

Report Card on Musharraf

IMF Vs Pakistan

A Candid Discussion on Foreign Policy Issues

A Sad Tale of Missed Opportunities

Cold War In Kashmir

Whither Afghanistan?

National Security and Literacy

Pakistan Votes

The People Win

What is an Islamist?

Selling the Crown Jewels

Still Not Government

One Year After the Taliban

Benazir's Folly

Iraq and Oil

Saddam and Iraq - I

Saddam and Iraq - 2

Muslim Democracy

Zakat and Capitalism

Zakat and Capitalism - 2

The Economy Picks Up

The American Military: Power without Limit?

Good Foreign Policy is Good Anti-Terrorism Policy

The Arrest of Khalid Shaikh Mohammad

Bush Takes a Gamble

Bush Attacks

Besieging Baghdad

Darkness in Saddam's Bunker

Piccadilly It Aint Qissa Khani Is Still Qissa Kahani

Ed Asner and Afghanistan's Progress

Bush Delivers a Roadmap

Liberation or Imperialism

The Roadmap

Economic Rebound

Musharraf in Los Angeles

Economic Growth will lead to Democracy

Trapped by Myths and Fantasies

The Surge in Karachi Stocks

Bush's Busted Budget

America's Broken Healthcare

Time to Buy Stocks?

Islam, the State, and Human Rights

30 Years after the Oil Shock

The Future of Oil Wealth

Pakistan, India and Human Development

Pakistan's Eid Present

Iraq, Democracy and Islam

The End of Saddam Hussein

Three Wins for Pakistan

The Islamabad Declaration

Kerry's Big Wins

Repeal Hudood and Blasphemy

Bush's Growing Vulnerability

What Has Aziz Done?

Bits and Pieces

The Growth of India

Chaos in Iraq

Bush Caves in to Sharon

Abuse at Abu Ghraib

Too Harsh, Musharraf

The BJP Loses

What Do the Jihadis Want?

The Pak Economy: Bigger than We Think

Is America Richer than Europe?

Prime Minister Aziz

Unbundling WAPDA

Musharraf's Uniform

Chess Game in Kashmir

Three States, Three Debates

What's Wrong with the Democrats?

Can Elections Bring Peace to Iraq?

Elections in Iraq

Can Generals Yield to Democrats?

IMF Give Pakistan an “A”

Improve Higher Education in Pakistan

A Framework for Reconciliation

Iraq’s Elections By

Privatizing Power

Bullish in Karachi

Palestinians Should Abandon Suicide Bombings

The F-16’s

Bush’s Social Security Plan

Growth and Investment

Patronage Versus Policy

Aziz, the PML, and 2007

Are We Running out of Oil?

Purchasing Power

Economic Progress

Social Progress

PTCL and the Privatization Roller-coaster

Bombing in Britain

The Ummah is Not a Tribe

Is the US Oppressing the Muslims?

Is Iraq Dissolving?

Sharon Retreats

Pakistan and Israel

The Earthquake

The Other Earthquakes

The Battle for the Supreme Court

Pakistan’s Physician Exports

Beginning of the End in Palestine

Intelligent Design and Other Religious Beliefs

Shifting Populations in South Asia

Sharon’s Stroke

Building Dams

Hamas in Charge

Free Elections in 2007

Muslim Perspectives on Zionism

Iraq Falls Apart

Big Successes in Privatization

Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions

Global Warming

Dennis Ross on the Middle East

What Makes an Islamic State?

The Iraq War

Strong Growth, Falling Poverty

Buffett and His Billions

Why Peace Is Elusive in the Middle East

How Poor is Poor?

How Poor is Poor?
Pakistan’s Growth Moment

Declare a Palestinian State

The London Bomb Plot

Who Won the Lebanon War?

Iran, Israel, and the Bomb

The Pope’s Speech

Democrats Win!

The Republicans Lick Their Wounds

Finally, Some Enlightened Moderation

The Error in the War on Terror

Economic Challenges for Pakistan

Reshaping the Middle East - Part 1

Reshaping the Middle East - Part Two

The Surge to Defeat

Whither Palestinians?

Pakistan and Afghanistan

Blind to the Future?

Musharraf Goes Too Far

Letter from Lahore

Can Musharraf Escape His Own Trap?

Will Healthcare Swallow the Economy?

Israel’s Surprise Offer

The Economy Surges Again

Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
© 2004 pakistanlink.com . All Rights Reserved.