A new report by BuzzFeed’s Andrew Kaczynski says that former Vice President Al Gore (D-TN) is pondering a 2016 presidential run. This comes as new polls show that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, while continuing to lead in the primaries, may not be as competitive in the general election as previously thought. Recent polls show the former First Lady struggling in battleground states and being seen as untrustworthy. This also comes as Vice President Biden takes a renewed look at a presidential run. He is expecting to make his announcement in the upcoming weeks.
“They’re figuring out if there’s a path financially and politically,” a senior Democratic source told Kaczynski. “It feels more real than it has in the past months.”
Kaczynski reports that Vice President Gore has not spoken to his political advisors about a run and a Gore advisor did say that they were “pouring lukewarm water” on the rumors. Kaczynski did not the use of “lukewarm” rather than cold water.
Following the BuzzFeed report, ABC News’s Rick Klein also said that there are discussions about a possible Gore run. Like Biden, Gore has run for the Presidency twice before, in 1988 and in 2000. In 1988, Biden also ran. In 2000, Gore won the nomination and the popular vote in the general election. However, then-Governor George W. Bush won the Electoral College and the Presidency. Since then, Gore has focused on climate advocacy and he started a television channel, Current.TV, before selling it to Al Jazeera.
However, there have also been reports spilling water on Kaczynski’s. The Tennessean’s Dave Boucher reported that sources were telling him there was no exploration of a presidential run by the former Vice President. A spokesperson for Gore said the reports were not accurate. A friend of Gore’s told Boucher, “I’ve heard nothing along these lines, and I’d be very surprised.”