Great balls of foreboding
by Tom Sullivan
With Hillary Clinton getting Swift Servered in the media for being, you know, Hillary Clinton, and with Bernie Sanders being used as a progressive effigy by Black Lives Matter, Washington-level Democrats are feeling a bit uneasy about their 2016 prospects this week. Opposed as they are by a Republican cornucopia of clowns, that's saying something.
BuzzFeed News reported yesterday that, according to "a senior Democrat," Al Gore supporters are “getting the old gang together” to explore the prospect of Gore entering 2016 presidential race:
“They’re figuring out if there’s a path financially and politically,” the Democrat said. “It feels more real than it has in the past months.”
[snip]
A member of Gore’s inner circle asked to be quoted “pouring lukewarm water” — not, note, cold water — on the chatter.
“This is people talking to people, some of whom may or may not have talked to him,” the Gore adviser said.
It is not clear what the purpose is of floating this story to BuzzFeed, but it smacks of some foreboding about Clinton's electability. A retired white woman I spoke with last week expressed dislike for Clinton, if that's any indication. She had voted for Obama, and now is eager for Joe Biden to jump into the race. It's not just about trust, but likeability.
Reuters had this unusual bit of snark regarding the Gore rumor:
Still, the environmental activist, Nobel Peace Laureate and founder of Current TV enjoys some favor among voters. A recent Reuters poll shows 3.3 percent of Democrats would vote for Gore in the 2016 election, the same percentage as those who would elect actor George Clooney, but far less than the 18.8 percent who would vote for Gore's old boss, Bill Clinton, who is barred by law from running again.
Politico asked Democratic strategist and Clintonista James Carville about the Gore rumor. While not surprised if Gore is looking at running, Carville observed that it is a “very fluid cycle, and it’s still early in the process.” Not exactly a "Ready for Hillary" from the Cajun cue ball.
Given how things played out for the Hillary juggernaut in 2008, perhaps the Clinton camp has decided it might make for a more compelling narrative (and make her less of a punching bag for the press) if she were not so obviously the Democrats' front runner. Otherwise, where's the drama?
In other news, Los Angeles has dumped "96 million black plastic balls into the city's 175-acre reservoir in an effort to fight the effects of California's drought." Costing $34.5 million, the "shade balls" are intended to help stop evaporation and to prevent algae growth.
That's kind of foreboding in itself. Al G.'s focus might be needed elsewhere.