Subject: Al Gore Insiders “Figuring Out If There’s A Path” For Him To Run - BuzzFeed News
From: "Eric Schwerin" <[email-masked]>
To: "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2015 17:12:38 -0400

Al Gore Insiders “Figuring Out If There’s A Path” For Him To Run - BuzzFeed
News

http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/al-gore-insiders-figuring-out-if-theres-a-path-for-him-to-ru#.kkKaY2KZj

Al Gore Insiders “Figuring Out If There’s A Path” For Him To Run

Supporters of Al Gore have begun a round of conversations among themselves
and with the former vice president about his running for president in 2016,
the latest sign that top Democrats have serious doubts that Hillary Clinton
is a sure thing.

Gore, 67, won the popular vote in the 2000 election, and has been mentioned
as a possible candidate in every contested Democratic primary since then.
He instead spent much of the 2000s focused on environmental campaigning and
business ventures. He has largely slipped out of public view more recent
years.

But in recent days, “they’re getting the old gang together,” a senior
Democrat told BuzzFeed News.

“They’re figuring out if there's a path financially and politically,” the
Democrat said. “It feels more real than it has in the past months.”

The senior Democrat and other sources cautioned not to overstate Gore’s
interest. He has not made any formal or informal moves toward running, or
even met with his political advisers about a potential run.

A member of Gore’s inner circle asked to be quoted “pouring lukewarm water”
— not, note, cold water — on the chatter.

“This is people talking to people, some of whom may or may not have talked
to him,” the Gore adviser said.

Roy Neel, a former top adviser to Gore, said Thursday he hadn’t spoken to
Gore about it and dismissed the idea of a bid. “It’s extremely unlikely,”
he said.

Gore himself didn't immediately reply to an inquiry emailed to his personal
account.

Polling this week put Vermont socialist Bernie Sanders ahead of Clinton for
the first time in New Hampshire. And she is contending with another round
of stories about her use of personal email, and the security of the server
on which it was hosted, during her time as secretary of state.

In June, when asked who will be the next president, Gore joked that he
would dodge the question, before saying that it was “actually too early” to
say. Gore declined to endorse Clinton in 2008, choosing to stay out
<http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jun/17/nation/na-campaign17> of the
Democratic primary until after Obama secured the nomination.

Gore has had other focuses in recent years. In particular, Gore and a
business partner are suing Al Jazeera, which purchased Current TV from him,
over $65 million dollars held in escrow during the deal; Gore and his
associate contend the money belongs to him. The Qatar-based network
acquired Current in early 2013 in a deal reportedly worth $500 million.

The former vice president has taken a step back
<http://www.buzzfeed.com/evanmcsan/al-gores-incredible-shrinking-climate-change-footprint>
from the climate change advocacy groups he helped to found, focusing
instead on his business ventures and being a public climate change expert,
if not the active lobbyist he once was. Climate change is still a top issue
for Gore, and he’s been happy to trash
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/24/al-gore-keystone-xl_n_4158648.html>
the Keystone XL pipeline, putting him to the left of both President Obama
and Clinton on the issue. Both have publicly reserved judgement on the
project until a State Department review is complete.

In March, Vox editor Ezra Klein argued
<http://www.vox.com/2015/3/16/8220537/al-gore-president-2016> that Gore,
with his ability to fund a campaign and to mount a serious challenge to
Clinton, should run for president.

Klein cited Gore’s support for single payer health care, his advocacy on
climate change, his opposition to the Iraq War to make the case that “the
rest of his positions are closer in line with Democratic Party activists
than, say, Clinton's.”

Eric D. Schwerin
[email-masked]

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