By Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Al Gore, long mocked as anexaggerating bore, seems certain to land a lead role at theDemocratic National Convention as an internationally recognizeddefender of the Earth.
Eight years after losing one of the closest White Houseelections ever, Gore is being embraced by party faithful as theNobel Peace Prize-winning crusader against global warming, andone of the most successful failed U.S. presidential nominees inhistory.
While the Democratic Party has yet to announce its lineupof convention speakers, the former vice president is on ananticipated short list of headliners at the four-day gatheringin Denver that opens on August 25, party aides say.
"He'll receive a tremendous reception," said DemocraticSen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, a convention delegate.
"A lot of us still feel he was cheated" in the 2000 vote,Harkin said. "If he'd been president, we wouldn't have hadthese (Bush administration) messes the past eight years."
"Also, we admire his tenacity in protecting theenvironment. Many share his vision on what needs to be done,"Harkin said.
In travelling the world to warn against the threat ofclimate change, Gore, 60, routinely draws packed crowds and hasearned rock-star status among young supporters.
On July 17 in Washington, more than 4,000 crammed intoConstitution Hall to hear Gore. Tickets, all free, were snappedup within 24 hours after it was announced he would be there.
"He's charismatic. He's a strong orator. He has a presencethat draws you in," George Chipev, a 20-year-old GeorgetownUniversity student, said afterward in listing attributes thateven Gore backers admit he lacked in his White House bid.
Added Beth Camphouse, 21, a student at James MadisonUniversity: "Al Gore is one of the few public figureschallenging my generation to do anything. He's inspirational."
In addition to the Nobel Peace Prize that Gore won in 2007,the film version of his slide-show lecture and book on globalwarming, "An Inconvenient Truth," won an Academy Award for bestdocumentary feature that year. In 2006, he helped found thenonpartisan Alliance for Climate Protection.
STILL HAS CRITICS
After eight years as vice president and 16 years inCongress, Gore has rejected calls to run for office again.
"I don't think I'm very good at some of the things that themodern political system rewards and requires, and I've foundother ways to make a difference and to serve the publicinterests," Gore told his hometown newspaper, the NashvilleTennessean, last year. "And I'm enjoying them."
"You've got to give Al Gore credit," said Shirley AnneWarshaw of the Centre for the Study of the Presidency. "Hebecame a star by rising above politics with his passion for theenvironment. He's now international leader on an issue more andmore people care about. There has been no more successfuldefeated presidential candidate."
To be sure, Gore still has critics, particularly ones whoaccuse him of overstating the threat of climate change, despitemounting scientific evidence.
Yet Gore has drawn support on both sides of the politicalaisle, including Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obamaand John McCain, his Republican rival in the November election.
The two embraced Gore's challenge to commit to producingall U.S. electricity from renewable sources like solar and windpower within 10 years in order to get away from carbon-basedfuels.
"If the vice president says it's do-able, I believe it'sdo-able," said McCain. Obama said, "It's a strategy that willcreate millions of new jobs ... and one that will leave ourchildren a world that is cleaner and safer."
Sen. Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican denounced it."Unless there is some monumental breakthrough, it is notpossible," Session said. "It cannot be the basis of a soundenergy policy by any responsible official in America, it seemsto me. Maybe I am wrong, but I don't think so."
During the 2000 White House race, Gore was ridiculed asstiff and wooden. By contrast, Republican foe George W. Bush,then the Texas governor, came across as far more personable,although not as knowledgeable.
On Election Day, Gore won the popular vote. But Bush tookthe White House when a divided U.S. Supreme Court let stand hiscontested 537-vote margin of victory in Florida that allowedhim to capture the decisive, state-based Electoral College.
At the 2004 Democratic Convention, Gore joked about it.
"You win some, you lose some and then there's that little-known third category," Gore said, drawing laughter, cheers andtears.
The Pew Research Centre released a poll in May that found53 percent of Americans had a favourable opinion of Gore,slightly higher than Obama's 52 percent. Bush's approval ratingis under 30 percent, battered by the unpopular Iraq war and theailing U.S. economy.
(Editing by David Alexander and David Wiessler)
