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Gore '08? Nobel Adds Speculation

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By ELISABETH BUMILLER and JIM RUTENBERG, The New York Times

Published: October 13, 2007

WASHINGTON - Al Gore's seven-year journey from loser to laureate began in bitterness, settled for a time into self-imposed exile and led him in the end to rediscover his voice on climate change.

In winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Gore completed an unusual trifecta of awards for the year.

The movie 'An Inconvenient Truth,' which highlighted his climate change crusade, won Oscars for best documentary and best original song.

Gore also won an Emmy for the interactive work of Current TV, a cable channel he helped found.

The question now is what he will do with the prestige and attention that comes to him with the Nobel Peace Prize.

The answer appears to be that he will neither embrace nor reject another quest for the presidency, but harness the speculation about his intentions to become a more formidable force on environmental policy and a power within the Democratic Party.

Friends Say He Won't Run

Gore's close friends and advisers said Friday that he had no desire to be drawn into the race for the presidency but that he saw the clear advantage of leveraging the acclaim.

The clearest expression of his true feelings, they said, was his brief statement of thanks for the prize in an appearance in Palo Alto, Calif., where he talked about planetary politics and uttered not a word about the kind unfolding in Iowa and New Hampshire.

'This obviously turns everybody toward the presidency, but I think he's saying what he means,' said Paul Begala, a political adviser in the Clinton White House who prepared Gore for his 2000 presidential debates against George W. Bush.

'He knows there's a Democratic field that Democrats are happy with, and that they don't need a white knight riding in.'

Although he shares the award with the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it was in many ways a personal victory for Gore.

A victory achieved beyond the shadow of the disputed 2000 election and outside the orbit of the couple to which he has been linked for so long as a partner and a rival, Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Like Gore, Bill Clinton has dedicated his post-White House career to global good works, and has been mentioned as a possible Nobel winner some day; this was one prize Gore got first.

Gore's moment of acclaim also comes as Hillary Clinton has solidified her position as the perceived front-runner among the Democratic presidential candidates.

Officials with Clinton's campaign said that they had no expectation that Gore, who was vice president for eight years under Bill Clinton, would enter the race.

Most analysts said that it was not impossible for Gore to start a credible run for the presidency, but that it would certainly be a challenge, especially given that the leading Democratic candidates have already built formidable war chests and organizations in the early voting states.

If he were to make a run, he would have to formally commit to it in a matter of weeks.

The filing deadline for candidates in New Hampshire is Nov. 2; it is a relatively easy process requiring a signature and a $1,000 registration fee.

Gore's supporters could still begin a write-in campaign on his behalf if he does not meet that deadline, but it is unclear how successful that would be without a declaration of candidacy from Gore.

In Iowa, Gore's small band of committed followers are prepared to push him as a candidate in caucus rooms, but that will be similarly difficult without a go-ahead from Gore.

Even former President Jimmy Carter, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, weighed in.

'I've called Al Gore and urged him to run for president so many times,' he said on 'Today' on NBC. 'He finally told me the last time, 'President Carter, please do not call me.''

Prize Vindicates Gore's Efforts

There is a sense of vindication among Gore's close associates, who remembered the days when Gore's devotion to the environmental issue earned him the derisive nickname Ozone Man from George H.W. Bush, during the 1992 presidential campaign.

His advisers also remembered the lonely days after the Supreme Court awarded the presidency to Bush in 2000 and Gore, who won the popular vote, was derided by many Democrats for running what they said was a lackluster race.

'Nobody wanted to pay attention to him anymore,' said Donna Brazile, who managed Gore's 2000 campaign. 'But they'll pay attention to him now.'

The White House joined in the chorus of congratulations.

'Obviously it's an important recognition,' said White House spokesman Tony Fratto, adding that President Bush was 'happy for the vice president.'

In contrast to other Nobel Peace Prize winners in recent years, Gore, 59, is a multimillionaire who has built a media and high-tech empire around himself and his environmental work.

He sits on the board of Apple and is the chairman and co-founder of Current TV.

Laurie David, a producer of Gore's documentary on climate change, said she regularly asked him whether he would run for president and he responded as coyly to her as he does publicly.

'I've brought it up a million times and he always pretends like his cell phone's not working,' she said.

Information from The Washington Post was used in this report.

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