Al Gore attacks Tea Party's 'extremist agenda'

Former vice president Al Gore is blasting Tea Party supporters as "extremist" in a new fundraising pitch for House Democrats.

"Single-minded proponents of a dangerous and extremist agenda are working feverishly to roll back every Democratic gain we've ever made," Gore says in an e-mail on behalf of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).

"The Tea Partiers now calling the shots in the Republican Party won't back away from their radical agenda."

It's not the first time the former vice president has used such rhetoric. In a July 25 blog post, Gore wrote about the dangers of "ideological extremists" in the GOP and Tea Party who balk at raising the nation's debt ceiling. He compared them to skeptics of climate change.

Gore is asking for donations of $3 or more, so the DCCC can have a good financial showing for the month of September.

The Tea Party has been a favorite foil for the DCCC. In a fundraising pitch in August, Democratic strategist James Carville -- who helped elect Bill Clinton and Al Gore in 1992 -- called the Tea Party "fools."