My Prediction: Al Gore as TIME Magazine's Person of the Year for 2007

In a year when so many politicians have been vying to become the next President of the United States, the man who should have been president in 2000 has emerged as our de facto leader seven years later. Al Gore commands more deference and affection than any other person in America today. He's always greeted with standing ovations--these long moments of applause fraught with hope with a tinge of regret: how America will change for the better as he makes us aware of what we need to do for the future; how America has changed for the worse as he reminds us that he could have been the president to lead us through 9/11.

TIME Magazine has a clear choice for Person of the Year: Al Gore. In 2007, Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth, won the Academy Award. In 2007, Gore's innovative company, Current TV, won the Emmy Award for for Best Interactive Television Service. In 2007, Gore's book, The Assault on Reason, won the Quill Award for History/Current Events. And, of course, in 2007, Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for his environmentalism.

There's no other person who has had more influence globally in 2007 than Al Gore.