Margaret Carlson: 'Prophet' Al Gore 'Rose Above a Great Injustice'

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Winning the Nobel Peace Prize was a “wonderful thing” Al Gore deserved for doing “a great thing,” veteran Washington journalist Margaret Carlson declared on Bloomberg Television's Political Capital show, as she contended “he rose above a great injustice” in what occurred in Florida's 2000 election count. Appearing with Bob Novak on the show, hosted by Al Hunt, which airs several times each weekend, Carlson told Novak: “You'd still be holding your breath and kicking your feet if what had happened to Al Gore in Florida had happened to you. He rose above, he rose above a great injustice. And by the way, you know, late in life you can find your gifts, which is Al Gore found what he should be doing and it is a great thing that he's done.” When Novak asserted Gore merely “became a demagogue on the global warming issue,” Carlson, the former Deputy Washington Bureau Chief for Time magazine who now posts columns on the Bloomberg News Web site, championed Gore's cause as she hailed how “he became a prophet on an issue that is crucially important to the world.”

The relevant exchange on the Political Capital taped Friday and aired Saturday, October 13, on Bloomberg Television:

MARGARET CARLSON: It's a wonderful thing for him and the draft Gore movement has puttered along and he hasn't responded in any way and I don't think he will do it [run for President] because he wouldn't want, you know, to take away from this huge honor. And, you know Bob, you'd still be holding your breath and kicking your feet if what had happened to Al Gore in Florida had happened to you. He rose above, he rose above a great injustice. And by the way, you know, late in life you can find your gifts, which is Al Gore found what he should be doing and it is a great thing that he's done.

BOB NOVAK: The Nobel Peace Prize, I don't know what stopping people from driving the cars they want to drive has to do with peace. But the Nobel Peace Prize is a compensation for not getting elected President, is that what you're saying?

CARLSON: No.

NOVAK: I think that's what you said.

CARLSON: What I'm saying is what Al Gore went on to do with his life was a wonderful thing. He wasn't bitter, he wasn't resentful.

NOVAK: What did he do with his life? He became a demagogue on the global warming issue.

CARLSON: He became a prophet on an issue that is crucially important to the world.