'Internationally Recognized Defender of the Earth'

Wow. Fawning drivel nonpareil.

Absolutely embarrassing that a media outlet would actually print this. Then again, it's as if they took the Obama template and replaced his name with that of The Goracle.

Al Gore, long mocked as an exaggerating bore, seems certain to land a lead role at the Democratic National Convention as an internationally recognized defender of the Earth.

Eight years after losing one of the closest White House elections ever, Gore is being embraced by party faithful as the Nobel Peace Prize-winning crusader against global warming, and one of the most successful failed U.S. presidential nominees in history.

While the Democratic Party has yet to announce its lineup of convention speakers, the former vice president is on an anticipated short list of headliners at the four-day gathering in Denver that opens on August 25, party aides say.

"He'll receive a tremendous reception," said Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, a convention delegate.

"A lot of us still feel he was cheated" in the 2000 vote, Harkin said. "If he'd been president, we wouldn't have had these (Bush administration) messes the past eight years."

"Also, we admire his tenacity in protecting the environment. Many share his vision on what needs to be done," Harkin said.

In traveling the world to warn against the threat of climate change, Gore, 60, routinely draws packed crowds and has earned rock-star status among young supporters.

Good grief, did Gore author this himself?

It gets worse.

"He's charismatic. He's a strong orator. He has a presence that draws you in," George Chipev, a 20-year-old Georgetown University student, said afterward in listing attributes that even Gore backers admit he lacked in his White House bid.

Added Beth Camphouse, 21, a student at James Madison University: "Al Gore is one of the few public figures challenging my generation to do anything. He's inspirational."

What planet are these people living on?

"You've got to give Al Gore credit," said Shirley Anne Warshaw of the Center for the Study of the Presidency. "He became a star by rising above politics with his passion for the environment. He's now international leader on an issue more and more people care about. There has been no more successful defeated presidential candidate."