He's still a bit pompous, but he's still right when it comes to energy and the environment. Mr. Gore can rattle off frightening statement after another and they simply get brushed aside for a reason that David Gregory and Chuck Todd both agreed with, which was that since Vice President Gore is still such a polarizing figure to the right, that his barking shouldn't be taken seriously. 'Look how much energy this man personally uses...' But when you know that for every degree increase in temperature, lightning strikes become ten times as likely, and when you know that the northern polar ice cap is shrinking at an alarming rate and could be 75% gone in five years, then aren't you inclined to speak at the top of your lungs?
Al Gore, on spearheading the discussion of our energy future and global warming, is the right man at the right time. We need a person of his stature on this issue to create real change. Talking to Mr. Gore about being Vice President again or in a top cabinet post would be putting him in the wrong place. There are so many who are keen on this notion, but it is misguided. The time has passed for an Al Gore Presidency, we can not go back, nor should we. Our politics need to move from the names of Gore, Bush, and Clinton because when those names are mentioned, think about it, one's opinion is cemented toward a certain way. It's time to move on.
But there is life after politics and Al Gore has found it. On the other hand, Bill Clinton has not, but needs to desperately. Right now even Democrats are mad at President Clinton. Al Gore has moved on so Democrats (Americans) need to as well.
Additionally, when Mr. Gore said that politics today requires a tolerance for triviality, and that his tolerance for this is in short supply, Mr. Brokaw disappoints as host with a moralizing question about how this could discourage young people from getting into politics. Tack like this does not belong on Meet The Press. Mr. Brokaw is a legendary news man, but that doesn't mean he's doing a good job here. Not to mention that you could tell that the Al Gore interview was edited (and not well), which defeats the urgency that MTP brings to the political discourse - throwing people into the spotlight.
Which brings us to the roundtable segment featuring David Gregory and Chuck Todd, one of these two men will be the next host. Chuck Todd is a political wonk - a geek of sorts - whose facts always trump everyone else's, but he has to speak with more authority. On the other hand, Mr. Gregory does this quite well but let's you know that he does it well. If Chuck Todd grows a pair, then he'll have the desk.
And lastly, again the conversation veered to speculating VP picks by the candidates, but as Mr. Todd pointed out - Senator Obama's pick is coming in the next two weeks, which is significant. Also, this column finds it interesting that after so much Democratic hoping for an Obama-Clinton ticket (a mending of the fence if you will), it is certainly not going to happen. Where this is going to happen is on the Republican side with McCain and Romney. These two men will come together to form what they think is a winning ticket. It will not win - simply. Political discourse is constantly filling itself with nuance, but it doesn't have to. Again, a McCain-Romney ticket will not win. McCain has trust issues as it is. The only person coming out of the primary season with more is Mr. Romney.
With Senator Obama, it is a trickier call, but there are some compelling reasons why Senator Chuck Hagel could be the pick. He's not running for the Senate again (disenchanted we would suspect after these last 7+ years), a war hero who arrived in the war as a grunt not a senator or admiral's son, foreign policy credibility, and he's from Nebraska - the heartland where Obama needs the votes.
It's a long summer for Meet The Press. We're just trying to keep it interesting. Looking forward to Senator Obama next week.
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