Over the past year, former Vice President Al Gore has indicated numerous times that he was not planning on seeking the presidency in 2008. However, he also did not absolutely rule out running and a number of grassroots organizations around the country recently began petitioning drives to get Gore's name on the primary ballot.

Al Gore's staff is now actively discouraging these grassroots efforts and the NYC petitioning drive for Gore is complying and ceasing activity. For more information on the end of the NYC drive, see below the fold.

(DFNYC will be holding a "mock caucus" as part of its Big December Linkup and will also hold a formal 2008 presidential endorsement vote in December.)

(This article from DFNYC members Bernadette Evangelist & Sally Swisher was originally written for The Community Free Democrat)

We have received a communication from his staff discouraging our efforts to put Al Gore's name on any primary ballots:

...This includes California, New York, Massachusetts, and the write-in effort in New Hampshire, as well as any other states that are working to get him on the ballot. Accordingly, effective immediately, we are recommending that all groups cease their signature collection and related fund- raising activities.

With this news, quite devastating to those of us who were convinced that Al Gore would be our best Democratic candidate for president, our valiant and quixotic group has ceased petitioning efforts which began for some of us at a petitioning party on October 29, on the Upper West Side to distribute petitions, instructions and organize supporters determined to put Al Gore on the NYS Democratic primary ticket in February. Among those in attendance were members of Community Free Democrats, Bernadette Evangelist, State Committeeman Bob Ginsberg, Amy Glass, Hank Honig, Gail Bernstein Paris, Emily Pearlman, and Sally Swisher; members of Three Parks Independent Democrats, Chelsea Reform Democratic Club, Village Independent Democrats; and other members of our West Side Community.

Much of our enthusiasm and perseverance began when Vice President Gore recently issued "position statements" in the way of interviews posted on his new TV/interactive web site, Current.com in which he discusses the Iraq War ("our primary goal would be to get our troops home as quickly as possible."), Health Care ("I strongly support universal, single-payer, government provided or government funded health care."), Wiretapping ("Congress has failed to exercise its responsibility to make sure that the executive branch is living up to what it's supposed to do under the Constitution."), Global Warming ("We are in danger of pushing the extinction rate up to levels that are comparable to the five great extinction events in the history of life on this planet. This is the moral challenge of our time.").

These were the issues that made us gravitate to Gore and encouraged groups around the country to begin similar petitioning drives. Many will now turn their efforts to other candidates.

We wish to acknowledge and thank all of the volunteers who spent time and energy in pursuit of this noble and democratic endeavor.

Bernadette Evangelist and Sally Swisher are board members of Community Free Democrats. Sally is currently Recording Secretary.