Al Gore Will Not Only Run, but He Can and Will Win

Feb. 27, 2007  -- Make no mistake: Former Vice President Al Gore will be our next president.

I am as confident about that assertion as I am that George W. Bush will go down in history as America's worst president ever. Gore is the right man at the right time, for many reasons. And it's clear that the momentum and buzz is shifting his way big time.

At Sunday's Oscar ceremony, Gore's movie producers took home the coveted prize for best feature documentary for "An Inconvenient Truth," his scorching red-flag raiser on global warming.

Gore joined them on stage and was graceful, poised and presidential. And it didn't hurt his hipness quotient any to be getting a little Leo DiCaprio love either. The politician also joined the Hollywood star on stage during the Oscars. That's right, Al Gore is suddenly cool.

It gets even better. In October, Gore will also likely be the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for being the planet's biggest advocate in the fight against climate change. His prestigious nomination in this exclusive club puts him in the company of such independent thinkers, statesmen and activists as Dr. Martin Luther King, President Jimmy Carter, Elie Wiesel and Mother Theresa.

Now let's talk chops. Gore's an enlisted Vietnam vet who served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, two terms in the Senate, and eight years as vice president in one of the most successful administrations ever. Let's not forget that he won the popular vote in 2000, and as many say, the Electoral College as well.

So wait, he's hip, he's brilliant, he's highly experienced. Is America ready for a real leader after two terms of a guy who makes Jim Carrey's "Dumb and Dumber" character seem downright cerebral? You bet your asinine Bush-isms it is.

I even have the perfect campaign slogan for Gore: "Imagine how it would've been."

Just imagine what the country would be like today had he become president in 2000 and not Bush. Imagine an America without this bloody debacle in Iraq. Imagine an America that commands the respect of its allies and is feared by its enemies. Imagine an America that puts the environment before big corporate interests. Imagine having a president who strives to bridge the gap between rich and poor, where the middle class, not the wealthy, gets the tax breaks, and where the minimum wage is not a shameful $5.15. Pretty powerful stuff on the campaign trail, huh?

Andy Ostroy is editor and publisher of The Ostroy Report, a New York-based blog that aggressively combats the powerful right-wing spin machine, taking on Bush, the Republican Party and the conservative media.

Yes indeed, 2008 is the right time for Al Gore. Don't think for a minute that he doesn't know this. It's not 2000, and Gore is a changed man, an older, wiser, more relaxed, confident version of his former self.

What's more, the country is as different a place for him today as it was in '68 for that other "Comeback Kid," Richard Nixon.

When Gore announces, which I suspect he will likely do in September, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will have canceled each other out, and he will leapfrog over the carnage to the front of the line.

At that time, he'll have tremendous political and financial currency and support from which to launch a successful campaign. And in this writer's opinion, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney will be coughing up dust.

Andy Ostroy is editor and publisher of The Ostroy Report, a New York-based blog that aggressively combats the powerful right-wing spin machine, taking on Bush, the Republican Party and the conservative media.