LEADERSHIP CULTIVATION

The Best Thing About Mondale and Gore Losing

The best thing about Walter Mondale and Joe Lieberman losing their races to the White House is that we didn't get Geraldine Ferraro and Joe Lieberman as Vice Presidents. I believe that Mondale and Gore would have been good U.S. Presidents if they had gotten the chance to serve. On the other hand, I get a level of satisfaction in knowing that Ferraro and Lieberman did not get close to the seat of power. Unlike the beer commercial that declares "they were who we thought they were", those two certainly were not who we thought they were. 

I didn't recognize the Geraldine Ferraro that showed up during the 2008 Presidential Campaign that pitted Barack Obama against Hillary Clinton. That was a case of former Democratic Vice-Presidential nominees gone wild. And Joe Lieberman?  I have to admit that I never had any passion for that guy, but I did like Al Gore. But with Gore, you would have gotten Lieberman and that quite frankly was worth Gore losing. Lieberman is turning out to be quite the "career politician." He seems to be willing to do or say anything to hold on to his Senate seat. His interference to achieving worthwhile health care reform is unacceptable. Too bad he isn't putting the amount of required effort into passing legitimate health care reform as he is in the global warming initial. I hope that Connecticut can field a credible candidate to run against this wolf sheep's clothing. Nuff said.

President Al Gore?

This week, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore shared the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to combat global warming.  With this latest award, the burning question again is will Al Gore jump in the race for President of the United States?  Hillary Clinton has a commanding lead for the Democratic nomination and the awesome weapon of the still very popular former U.S. President Bill Clinton.  Plus she has at her disposal, a potent political machine.  To her credit, Hillary has looked presidential and has no major missteps in her quest for the White House.  While Barack Obama and John Edwards still offer challenges, Hillary will win hands down...unless of course Al Gore jumps in the race.  At this point, Gore is the only candidate that still has a chance of derailing Hillary.

Governor Bill Richardson recently said that Hillary is acting like she has already won.  Well, I think the handwriting really is on the wall. The race is about to be over in the first quarter.  Obama and Edwards are showing signs of desperation and therefore are swinging harder for the fences. Both candidates are in attack mode and in the case of Edwards, he and his wife are conducting a tag-team assault. Adding to these two candidates' frustration is knowing that if Hillary wins the nomination, neither of them are viable running mates.  With Obama, the naysayers will say that it is way too risky to have a Black male and a woman leading the Democratic ticket.  And with Edwards, there is the perception that he brings no extra value, given that he did not help John Kerry make inroads in the South during the last election.

So again, for those who really cannot (or refuse to) envision Hillary as the nominee, the spotlight is shining squarely on Al Gore.  And in the case of Al Gore, you cannot help but wonder, how does a person ever reconcile in their mind that they actually won the U.S. Presidency and did not get to serve in the office?

Sidebar:  Incomprehensible!