Gore tells University of Oklahoma audience he is no longer in love with political process

Former Vice President Al Gore denied he's running for president again, at a March appearance at the University of Oklahoma.
 
Former Senate colleague David Boren, now OU president, said, "Well, I am going to get shot if I don't ask this one question," Boren said. "But "¦ do you think you might ever enter elective politics as a candidate again?"
 
"I myself think it is most unlikely I'll ever be a candidate again," Gore told Boren. "I have no plans; I have no intentions. Some of you may have read or heard that. But I kind of fell out of love with the political process."
 
FUND-RAISING WOES
Gore said it wasn't just his loss at the Electoral College in the 2000 election, despite having "500,000 more votes than any other candidate in the race," as Boren pointed out. Instead, Gore said it was the nightmare that political fund-raising has become.
 
"I find I have less patience with some of the stuff that's involved with politics. Some of the things I least like about it actually have been accentuated in this new television commercial universe," Gore said. "I haven't ruled out ever being a candidate again, but "¦ I really don't think that will ever happen."
 
HOPE FOR CHANGE
Gore said he is writing a new book that addresses the issue of popular political dialogue and, despite his misgivings about the current political climate, he has hope for the future.
 
"I think it can change," Gore said. "I'm hopeful about the possibility of the Internet for individuals to once again enter into a robust and dynamic conversation where they can use ideas as a source of influence and power again." "Ben Fenwick