Suggested Discussion Outline - Sep 6th

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johnkarls
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Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:43 pm

Suggested Discussion Outline - Sep 6th

Post by johnkarls »

Al Gore’s “Assault on Reason”
Suggested Discussion Outline


It is respectfully suggested that we spend approx. 5 minutes on each of the 11 sections of the book – (Intro + 9 Chapters + Conclusion) for whatever comments anyone would like to make.

And that we then spend 30 minutes considering the following questions from “Al Gore and the 2008 Nomination” and “Draft Gore for President – Internet Grass Roots” – both on our bulletin board (www.drinkingliberallyslc.org/reading) under “Participant Comments” – (leaving 5 min. at the end to select next month’s topic – please see our bulletin board for suggested topics, though “write-in” candidates are welcome).

1. Is “Assault” aimed at the Democratic base, or the public at large? Will it have traction with the public at large?

2. Unlike his earlier books/etc. (“Earth In The Balance”/2000 and his movie “An Inconvenient Truth”/2006 which was just published as a hard-cover book) all of which concentrated on the environment, “The Assault on Reason” is a broad attack on Republicans. Is Al Gore positioning himself as a compromise candidate if the 2008 Democratic Convention deadlocks???

3. Would he be a viable candidate??? In this regard, it is interesting that the only successful Democratic Presidential Candidates during the last 42 years and their percentages of the popular vote = Clinton/1996 = 49.2351% (Perot had 8.3980%); Clinton/1992 = 43.0072% (Perot had 18.9074%); and Carter/1976 = 50.0811%. FYI, Gore/2000 = 48.4007% (Nader had 2.7133% and minor candidates had 0.9982%).

4. Would Al Gore be a MORE EFFECTIVE candidate than Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama??? In this regard, please consider that despite Democratic Congressional Candidates garnering 52.0448% of the 2006 popular votes (Republican = 45.5841% & “other” = 2.3711%), Hillary Clinton continues to have “high negatives” in virtually all of the polls and runs slightly behind Rudy Giuliani in virtually all of the polls.

5. Would Al Gore be a BETTER candidate ON THE ISSUES??? AND SHOULD WE CARE MORE ABOUT WINNING OR ABOUT POLICY???

In this regard, please consider the debate (the transcript of which is on our bulletin board under “Participant Comments/Al Gore and the 2008 Nomination”) on “Meet the Press” on 12 August 2007 between Harold Ford Jr. (Chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, Former Congressman (D-TN) and unsuccessful 2006 Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from Tennessee) and Markos Moulitsas (Founder/Editor of DailyKos.com and Co-Author of “Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics”) moderated/refereed by David Gregory (NBC News Chief White House Correspondent) pinch hitting for Tim Russert.

6. Could the internet provide the means by which a “write in” movement for Al Gore could succeed in 2008?

7. Could such an internet “write in” movement, if successful in Iowa and New Hampshire, also provide him with the campaign funds to buy national TV spots for “Super Tuesday” on February 5th? (This is both a practical question like the “write in” question above, and also a legal question whether the Federal Election Commission rules permit contributions to potential candidates (or, perhaps, to individual trust accounts for whom the beneficiary is the potential candidate) who haven’t even authorized an “exploratory committee.”)

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