Hanover, New Hampshire -- While the eight Democratic presidential hopefuls practice their sound bites for tonight's debate, an energetic group of Granite Staters has been getting signatures on a petition to encourage Al Gore to enter the New Hampshire primary.

Draft Gore New Hampshire, a grass roots organization with no formal connection to the former vice president, has already collected more than 1100 signatures from New Hampshire voters over the summer.

The group's petition simply asks the Nobel Peace Prize nominee to enter the New Hampshire primary.

“There is a strong undercurrent of support for Gore in New Hampshire which is not reflected accurately in polls or in the opinions of visiting out-of-state pundits,“ says Farrell Seiler, coordinator of the statewide group.

Without being an announced candidate, polls already give Gore between 8%-32% of the New Hampshire primary vote. And one poll shows him getting more votes than frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

But polls this early can be very deceptive, says Seiler. "No one knows how strong the support really is for any of the announced presidential candidates." Today's poll popularity, says Seiler, "is no predictor of tomorrow's electability."

Support for all Democratic candidates is “quite soft and very fluid, especially for Clinton” says Seiler. Polls are subject to dramatic shifts. Many polls don’t even include Gore in their list of candidates.

An analysis of the party registration of 400 of the signers of the Draft Gore petition reveals that 52% are undeclared, 37% are Democrats, 11% are Republicans.

Al Gore, says Seiler, has cross-over appeal to Republicans in New Hampshire. And the undeclared voter, the state's largest voting bloc, swept Republicans out of office and made New Hampshire a blue state in 2006.
 
“The folks who are signing the Draft Gore petition are not political junkies,” he says, “they are everyday New Hampshire voters who are looking for answers to our nation’s and the world's problems. They want realistic solutions — not just scripted talking points — from presidential candidates”

The petition drive also wants to show that the planning for a primary “get-out-the-vote” campaign for the former vice president is seriously underway.

Draft Gore New Hampshire has organized steering committees in eight New Hampshire counties. The group already has active volunteers in 36 vote-rich towns and is adding more towns and volunteers each week.

These volunteers are identifying Gore supporters, data basing voter lists, setting up telephone banks, targeting funding sources — preparing to turn out thousands of Gore supporters on Primary Day.

“Clinton, Obama, Edwards and other campaigns are spending millions to do this,” says Seiler, “But a dedicated, passionate group of hard working volunteers can accomplish a great deal in a short period of time and at a fraction of the cost.”

When Al Gore announces officially that he is in the race, says Seiler, "We'll roll."
 

Draft Gore New Hampshire is not supported, endorsed or affiliated with, or authorized by, Al Gore, or any candidate or political campaign.

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