More Gore?

Brent Budowsky has an important new article about the return of Al Gore. There's no talk -- so far -- of a 2012 challenge to Obama. (Although, as long-time readers know, I favor the idea.)

But Gore is writing a new book about the need for Democrats to retake the House. I'd prefer it if he wrote about our need for a Democrat in the White House, because we don't have one now.

Publishing; television; fundraising. Message; communications; organization; mobilization. The Gore methodology is identical to the strategy he implemented to drive climate change to the top of the global agenda. No doubt the retreat on climate change is part of Gore’s motivation today.

The methodology is similar to the formula of conservatives who turned their own ideas into what became a de facto integrated conglomerate of think tanks, publishing, television, fundraising, and organization.

But liberals have been historically inept at combining the power of the message with the power of distributing the message.

I've known for a while that Republican think tanks were a racket, but the size and scope of the racketeering has become apparent to me only recently. Those think tanks exist to provide Fox and other conservative media outlets with a network of "on call" talking heads. If the left had a similar network, then Air America might not have failed.

(Of course, a big factor in the failure of AA was the way the on-air talent grew kind of repellent with familiarity. To be specific, I'm thinking of the Colossal Ego of Rhodes.)

I'm disturbed, however, to see that Gore is publishing via Random House, which has a well-known right-wing bias. This is the same publisher that pushes Ann Coulter. Random House has established an entire imprint (Crown) devoted to the most scurrilous forms of right-wing propaganda. If Gore's book succeeds, the profits will fund a dozen far more dangerous works.