I was at Town Hall tonight to watch Al Gore talk about his new book, "The Assault on Reason." I'm writing a story for tomorrow's paper where you will be able to find more details on the event.

A few things stuck out for me. One of the more interesting moments tonight was when Gore quoted Abraham Lincoln saying, "We must disenthrall ourselves and then we will save ourselves." Gore said:

"Thrall is mental imprisonment by shared illusions. We have some shared illusions: Iraq attacked us. The climate crisis isn't real. It's OK to use the atmosphere as an open sewer. There's no such thing as a serious budget deficit. It's OK for 40 million Americans not to have health care. It's OK to torture people. It's OK for eavesdrop on millions of Americans without warrants. It's OK to lock up American citizens with charges, even for life, if the executive says 'Do it.'"

He got quieter and quieter as he spoke, and then in a near whisper, his voice seeming to catch at points, he went on:

"Candidates gather on a stage, and express their support for torture and the audience applauds and then another candidate is even more enthusiastic in favor of torture and the audience applauds even more enthusiastically.

"Who we are as citizens of of this country depends not just on what we learn in school, what our parents teach us, it depends on how we communicate with one another, whether we trust one another, whether we believe we have a shared obligation to seek out, with our collective best efforts, what's the truth."

In case you were wondering, Gore did not talk about the 2008 presidential campaign. And in the few questions the audience asked, none were about whether Gore would get in the race.

He was asked why more wasn't done about climate change during the Clinton-Gore years. Gore said:

"Well, we lost the Congress to Newt Gingrich in 1994. I was vice president, not president and I had no complaints about President Clinton not taking my advice and doing what I suggested on it. But I was not able to define the organizing principle of the Administration and I went into the job understanding that.

"And it was at a time when over half of all the news stories on global warming in the United States were saying it might not even be real. .. And I'll plead guilty of having an insufficient amount of political skill to put the ideas across. But when the Congress was not hearing anything from their constituents urging them to act on this, it really was, at times, like pushing rope up hill."

I think the crowd was particularly respectful of Gore. For the most part they sat rapt through his lecture on the history of communications. There was little reaction through his speech, but thunderous ovations at the opening and close.

Before the event, I talked to people at Town Hall and did some interviews about Gore's presidential possibilities. Gore's reluctance to say he won't run -- as opposed to his stock answer that he's not currently a candidate -- has created a phenomenon among Democratic voters settling on starter candidates who would be quickly left behind if Gore, the trophy candidate, enters the race.

"I, personally, have one foot in the Obama camp," said Dean Falvy. Falvy is a Seattle attorney who was working the line outside Town Hall with draft Gore petitions.

Chad Shue, Snohomish County Democratic activist and liberal bloger, had a seat up close for Gore's appearance. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is his place-holder candidate. And he'd love to see Richardson run as vice president on a ticket headed by Gore.

Shue is attracted to Gore in part because he says the 2000 election was never really finalized.

"He is the legitimate owner of the throne," he said.

Shue's wife, Debbie, backs former Sen. John Edwards today. But, she, too, would jump to Gore. "If Gore got in we could start the healing, because Chad and I would both support him." And she says it wouldn't just be peace in the Shue household. "I really wish he would get in now," Debbie Shue said. "I don't think it's good to go through" all the infighting a contested primary will bring. "He could really start healing this country."

Congressman Adam Smith, an early and ardent backer of Sen. Barack Obama, said he thinks it's a myth that there are a lot of Democrats waiting to see if Gore will join the race. "Democrats are satisfied with the field," Smith said, citing polls that show 85 percent of Democrats say they are happy with the current crop.

Smith isn't worried about the Gore effect.

"First of all, Al Gore is not gong to run for president," he says. Smith says Gore is not acting like even a maybe-candidate.

But there are some well-connected Democrats who want to make sure. Smith said that Congressman Norm Dicks, a close friend of Gore's, won't commit to a candidate until Gore says something definitive. Congressman Jim McDermott wants Gore to run and thinks he may still get in the race. He believes that, in part, because "it's the nature of politicians."

"Al Gore has spent the better part of 20 years talking about global warming," he said. "the issue is now center state, in large measure due to his efforts. ... And for Al gore to sit back and say, 'that's as far as I'm going to push this ball, I'm gong to go home and drink lemonade and read books,' that's not a politician. Once you have it in your blood you can understand what can happen, the possibility of making something happen is so overwhelming."

Falvy and his sister, Jane George-Falvy, a UW business school professor, found the crowd Monday outside Town Hall an easy sell on the draft Gore petition. But even there some had questions about how Gore could best continue his environmental and political efforts.

"They say, 'He's more effective as an outsider,'" George-Falvy said.

They've head that before. Gore is not remembered as a brilliant campaigner, even in the light of his current celebrity. The public Gore is more relaxed now, and at the same time he seems more forceful and focused.

"We hope he brings that freedom to the race and he runs a different kind of race," Falvy said. Added his sister, "I think he's found his voice. I think that's always been inside Al."