Nerve Endings Firing Away

After winning the Oscar and an Emmy for his contribution in filming his movement against global warming, Al Gore made it a Triple Crown by adding the Nobel Peace Prize to his kitty. The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to Al Gore and UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.Incidentally, the head of the UN Panel is a desi, Rajendra Pachauri and this news has been rightly greeted in the desi blogospheric circles with joy although Amardeep at Sepia Mutiny asks if you can claim to have ‘won’ the prize if you are only the head of a panel that actually won it. But minor quibbles asides, at least celebration of this Indian’s achievement won’t be as ridiculous as calling Sunita Williams Gujarati ki Beti.

However, on this side of the Atlantic the focus is entirely on Al Gore and his mounting achievements in the field of climate change. In spite of painstaking research over the years by many scientists, the effects of climate change have only recently made it to the public consciousness. Al Gore’s documentary-movie, An Inconvenient Truth along with his travels and lectures around the world has been largely credited with the awakening of this just cause. Since people are waking up to the threats of global warming, Gore’s supporters have been insisting that he run for President in 2008. Their requests (or demands) are understandable. The current President who got lesser votes than Gore in that error-riddled election in 2000 is at an historic low in terms of popularity. The current crop of candidates on either do not evoke similar sentiments of feverish fan following. And finally, Al Gore enjoys an enviable reputation around the world and has built up significant political capital that he could leverage to catapult him to the White House. A website, DraftGore.com has been set up solely for that cause and has gathered nearly 100,000 signatures in favor of its cause. But is that all that is required to win a President’s race?

Personally, I think that Gore would do more harm than good if he decided to run for President. Not just on a personal front but also for the sake of his environment movement. By effectively contextualizing his movement as a moral and spiritual imperative rather than a political necessity, he has risen above partisan politics. Admittedly, the President of the United States wields enormous power in dictating policy in the country and subsequently for the world. The actions or lack thereof of the current President are proof enough. But we also know that you don’t necessarily have to be the President to influence the actions of whoever is, be it by legal or dubious means. Not everyone is placated by a night in the Lincoln Bedroom.

Also, being a President or running for one requires one to voice or hold opinions on a multitude of issues which necessarily aren’t important in the long run. For e.g. the immigration, health care and Iraq war seem to be the top issues right now but Al Gore apart from having no role in sanctioning the Iraq war has no real contribution in the advancement of either policy matters. In fact, in his eyes these issues might not be influenced by his opinion in a manner that he has managed to influence the environment movement. He manages to project a strong and confident image in the global warming debate because he seems to genuinely believe in its cause. no matter how passionate and dedicated you are, you cannot manage to be passionate about a multitude of issues that aren’t always related. However, the person running for President is expected to be exactly that. Even the most avowed Gore critic will admit that he did more for the environmental movement after he lost the Presidential race even though he was in the White House for eight long years.

The political campaigns in the United States are driven by personality and charisma of individual candidates rather than core issues. The candidates opinion on hot-button topics are influenced by the manner in which they manage to spin it. This also makes the candidates vulnerable to personal attacks which the current Republican party seems to relish in. Trivializing global issues by focusing on individual habits to dismiss the issue is not new to Al Gore. Having contested against Bush whose cronies don’t think twice about smearing their own party men (John McCain) or distinguished war veterans (Kerry & Clelland), Al Gore is well aware of the dirty tactics of contemporary politicking. Yesterday, I discussed the tactic of attacking political props in order to dismiss the larger issue at hand. Would he want to risk his much-respected environmental movement to such attacks in a national race?

Further, candidates on either side of the aisle are expected to toe the party line or ideology in certain issues like national defense, religion, or civil liberties even if you consider them insignificant for discussion. A candidate’s belief in science over religious dogma is in fact, a political liability in this country that benefited immensely from science. Ashutosh points out how U.S. policy on energy and climate has been dealt another blow by this Nobel Prize committee. Although the Chairman of the committee emphasized that their decision was in no way an indication of criticism of the Bush administration, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to scientists who discovered the destruction of the ozone layer by CFCs is no coincidence. Also, Nobel Peace Prizes have always been somewhat political statements. Remember the fiasco when they awarded it to Yaseer Arafat, Shimon Peres, and Yitzhak Rabin in 1994? Gore has wisely decided to donate his prize money to the foundation for climate change to avoid any attacks of financially benefiting from his cause. Gore has probably tried the political route and his belief in science may have been ridiculed or considered not justifiable enough for a major policy change.

So in conclusion, although I think Al Gore would make a great President I think he shouldn’t choose to spend his political or business capital by running in this current horse race for President. He has devoted the past few years to a cause that is clearly dearest to his cause and conscience. We rather have him do that well than have to defend himself against mud-slinging and mouth political advisor-written memos on immigration, abortion, and Iraq. I’m sure Americans can find another capable person to run for the highest office of the land. History already has a place for Al Gore.