Power Outside the Presidency

President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden met with former Vice President Al Gore today, to discuss the climate crisis. Interestingly enough, Obama's energy picks are set to come out tomorrow, which means that he at least ran those picks by Gore, not for approval, perhaps, but in a somewhat formal way. In the small press availability, Obama said that "all three of us are in agreement that the time for delay is over, the time for denial is over... this is a matter of urgency and national security, and it has to be dealt with in a serious way."

This shows the importance of having a power broker outside of the government with the ability and willingness to push the President and the Congress in their direction. Al Gore could have run for President, or taken a job inside the Administration. But it would have diluted his cause, lessened his credibility, and cut him off from his grassroots movement. Gore did the exact right thing to stay separate. He still can get high-level meetings with powerful officials, and he still can deploy resources to change minds in the court of public opinion. Gore is very important to the future of the progressive movement, and a good lesson in how to partake in a post-political life.