(originally published 12 October 2007 here.)
A thousand congrats, Mr. Nobel Laureate. Well deserved, and I feel you've only just begun the current phase of your public life. So, please, please, please, a thousand times please DO NOT throw your hat into the Democratic primary ring for the Presidency.
I've seen the movie. I saw you present the slide show at Key Arena. (BTW, did you offer that woman a job who handed you her résumé during Q&A?) I stayed up until the middle of the night to watch the Ghosties rock the Sydney stage during Live Earth. I use CFL bulbs at home, carry around a travel coffee mug featuring one of Don Cherry's loud suits, have plastic tumblers at my desk for the water cooler, reduce, reuse, recycle, and take the bus.
And yes, I also saw the NY Times ad this week from Draft Gore.
Even
though I have no doubt that you could "re-invent" -- to use a trite
term -- the Presidency, you long ago expanded your bully pulpit beyond
the Rose Garden. To wit: author, new media entrepreneur, Academy Award recipient, corporate board member,
inventor (well, maybe not that last one, but thanks for the internet,
just in case!). And, most importantly, public intellectual. While some
may still be disappointed in a lack of fire in your belly in and around
a certain date in November 2000, your grace afterwards was
inspirational to me. Four years later you opted out of the national
election and I hope you do the same this time as well.
Many people spend their entire lives searching for their true
calling, changing the color of their parachutes. You've found it. Keep
challenging, keep speaking, keep exhorting, keep enlightening. Keep off
of the campaign stump.
