Julies reference below to Dave Mastios story about the Enviro-Media Complex raises a mystery: the enviros, as I noted in my Weekly Standard article a few weeks ago, have embarked on a massive PR campaign to elevate the profile of global warming in American politics. This would seem foolish on the surface: the Bush Administration has shown that it is not for turning on this. So why make this kind of effort more than two years before the next election?
Dick Morris offers a clue in this column from The Hill. Al Gore might run again in 2008. Not only will he run to Hillarys left on the war, but he may also run as the candidate to fight global warming. I can tell you from conversations Ive had with enviros that one of the great mysteries in their mind is why Gore was so silent about global warming (since that is the ONLY issue for most greens) in his 2000 campaign. Typically I just run through the Gallup poll numbers for them: the issue is a loser politically. But if public opinion can be brought around over the next couple of years, then Gore can campaign on it. And if he wins, then hed be in a position to do something, rather than flounder around as the Clinton administration did with its non-starter idea for a BTU tax.
This is the surest hint yet that Gore is indeed getting ready to run again.
Yea, nothing subtle about the global warming blitz. Reports, a NOVA on PBS, policy debates. Unfortunately, almost all the rhetoric goes far beyond the certitude of the raw science.
Lets just hope he doesnt concede the nomination to Hillary too soon. Feingold too. I want seats next to Bob Uecker for the primaries.