Would have been to sacrifice himself to his country. And I, for one, would have appreciated it.

Ask him about the Global Universal Networkplace.

That last target was inappropriate.

Oh cheeky cheeky

Oh naughty sneaky.

as long as he doesn't mention ManBearPig!!

:)

Seriously, I'm looking forward to seeing Al Gore have a chance to speak to a large national audience again. It also shows great confidence by Obama that he could have such a major progressive figure speak on Thursday without the fear of being upstaged.

ManBearPig = Literal LOL of the Day!

no really, I literally LOL'ed...at my desk...if I had any coffee in my mouth it woulda been a spittake.

cheers!

:D

p.s. funny how Gore, who used to be THE definition of cautious centrism is now considered (rightly) as a progressive voice. It's kinda neat actually.

Will he be selling carbon credits after the show?

"And by elevating Gore to final night, is it not also a coded semi-rebuke to the Clintons?"

Stick to using your tea leaves to make tea.

No question that Gore was going to address the convention, given his status in the Party. When else would he speak and NOT overshadow nearly everyone else that night? About the only bigger (and god I hate to use the word) "celebrity" is Obama himself; he's the only one Gore wouldn't upstage. I'm guessing the Clinton's didn't want to take that chance.

Gore has become the best progressive voice out in the world today. He made a remarkable transformation after he was robbed in 2000. While running, he never quite connected the way should have (though I believe he did eke out a win). Since then, however, he has developed a remarkable ability to tell the truth that a modern president should be telling to the world in a straightforward, convincing way. We need this guy playing a huge hole in Dem politics going forward.

:) Glad to help!

The man who was elected president by popular vote but had it stolen is speaking to his own party's convention and this is "gutsy" ???

Some other gutsy Obama moves: brushing his teeth, going to Hawaii, speaking to the press.

Why did you feel compelled to insert that semi-coded rebuke (or coded semi-rebuke, whatever) of the Clintons remark into your post?

This is helping the unity meme?

Ditto that. The phrase's very inclusion in a post which has nothing whatsoever to do with either Clinton smacks of Obama-schillism on Schaller's part.

Note to Schaller: Only sore winners and small children keep on harping on the people who have already lost graciously and given your Messiah their full support.

Thomas Schaller:

I think that you're spot-on about everything the Gore appearance means for the convention and the Obama campaign, but the idea that including Gore is a rebuke to the Clintons seems to be way off. Any chance we can get you to elaborate as to your thoughts behind the idea that this is a rebuke to the Clintons?

Some thoughts:

Who might be behind the engineering of a rebuke to the Clintons? Obama's camp? The DNC? Both? For what reasons?

For a majority of the party, Bill Clinton, in spite of his many minor failings, is still a beloved ex-President. Who wants to slap his wrist at this stage of the game - and why?

Hillary was just barely short of having a majority of the electorate in her corner. It's a matter of record and fact that in terms of numbers she performed nearly as well as Obama. Does she have ex-supporters who don't think she tried hard enough and therefore wish to rebuke her? That doesn't compute. I don't think *anybody* tried as hard as Hillary this time around - and ultimately she was gracious in defeat and was subsequently forgiven any bridges she may have almost burned.

I think they're having Al Gore speak because in his post-vice-Presidential and Presidential candidate role as activist and communicator for a cause that is dear to Dems he's become somewhat of a rock star.

I'm personally solidly in Obama's camp and there's nothing that could happen to make me switch my vote from Obama to McCain between now and November. I have had close to ZERO interest in listening to ANYBODY speak at the convention.

Now that Al Gore will be speaking, I'll tune in for that speech. Once I've been drawn in to listen to Al I may get drawn in to watching some more of the convention.

Getting Al Gore on board for the convention is a great idea.

Al Gore is the perfect choice. He will remind everyone (well, 49.5% of everyone) of the horrible, horrible mistake they made when they chose the guy you'd like to have a beer with instead of the smart but stuffy guy.

Of course, no one should even have to do this but even now Barack Obama's "elitism" is being allowed to be an issue instead of being laughed off the table.

Late in 2006 I awoke startled from a dream, turned to my laptop before even thinking of coffee, and immediately registered every available domain configuration of GoreObama08.com/net/org etc.

Still think it would have been THE dream ticket. I was ready to donate the domains to the campaigns. Alas.

But then again, at the time it didn't seem like the proverbial snowballs shot that Obama would actually get the nomination. Perhaps it's better this way.

Any idea of what role Gore will play on the last night of the convention? I am guessing that he is tagged as delivering the introduction to Obama. That way Gore gets the rousing public tribute he deserves as the prophet of our times, his speech will be pithy and glowing, and he will grasp Obama's hand on stage before the 70,000 and a television audience of millions.

Great drama, great politics, grand and historic moment.

It will be bigger than Elvis

"A gutsy and smart move: It shows that Barack Obama is unafraid to be overshadowed, plus it's a way to rally those base Democrats and liberals who have pleasantly marveled at Gore's remarkable political comeback. (And by elevating Gore to final night, is it not also a coded semi-rebuke to the Clintons?)"

Your animus towards the Clintons gives birth to the hopelessly low level of intelligent analysis in your articles.First the main media, the beltway boys all chided Obama for giving in to the Clintons by giving them slots evidencing lack of spine on Obama's part. Then Obama puts Al Gore on and that is a "gutsy and smart move" serving as a coded semi-rebuke to the Clintons he has giving slots to and endured criticism from many pundits including CNN's resident pundit in chief, David Gergen. Sometimes our hatred for someone blinds us to some highly illogical and comical conclusions and we are too stupid to realize that, is that not true Mr. Schaller?

I am too stunned to continue following the passing away of a gem in the Democratic party,Stephanie Tubb Jones. Stephie, may you rest in peace.