Reply #32: If I wanted to comment on the OP, I would have [View All]

but I didn't. Instead I expressed my opinion on a subthread topic that caught my interest.

As for personal attacks, I don't think I did that. I expressed an opinion based on what you wrote, much the same as you do whenever there is a thread expressing support for a Gore candidacy.

I also didn't say that focusing on climate change is myopic. I said you were. I'm saying that you seem to see Gore as a one issue person. He isn't. He has a populist vision that encompasses a lot of issues most of which are affected by global climate change. For example, in the war in Iraq we are using depleted uranium. Guess what that does to the health and environment? Do you think that war doesn't destroy trees, affect water quality or hurt human health? Do you think he doesn't care about these things? Do honestly think that when oil wells are set on fire that it doesn't affect the environment in areas far away from Iraq? If you don't, then you are indeed myopic in your outlook.

And, yes, by writing "The Assault on Reason" he is opening the dialogue on a whole host of issues, not just climate change. He has been, and remains, a statesman. He means what he says and he has said he hasn't closed the door on seeking the presidency. If he wants encouragement then I am willing to give it to him. IMHO, you didn't listen to him in 2003 and you aren't listening to him now. If he is holding the door open then why shouldn't we ask him to step through? I'll stop supporting the idea of a Gore presidency when he tells me to just like I did in 2003. I listened to him and followed his lead in 2003 and supported Dean. You, on the other hand, went on a fool's errand when he said "no" and now you're punishing him.

Furthermore, he has single-handedly changed a lot of minds about climate change. People trust him and they are starting to listen to the other things he says. I have friends who are just discovering the speeches that Gore has made since 2000 and they are seeing him in a different light and they want him to run. They understand that he has been more correct on the issues that matter than anyone else.

If you don't want him to run, that's fine. If a number of the rest of us want him to run, what's wrong with that? Until the day he comes out and says, unequivocally, that he does not want to run I will support him as a possible candidate.