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March 19, 2007
A Gore Encore?
As the 2008 presidential campaign churns along with candidates racing toward the quarterly fundraising reporting deadline at the end of March, there has been much speculation about potential candidates who have not yet joined the race.
Much of this speculation has been on the Republican side, where the three current frontrunners -- John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and MItt Romney -- all seem to leave GOP party faithful longing for an alternative. Names like Newt Gingrich, Chuck Hagel, and Fred Thompson have been bandied about in recent weeks as possible party saviors.
For any of these potential aspirants to enter the race would be problematic, however, since none is particularly well known (we'd guess even Gingrich would register relatively low name ID these days), and introducing oneself to a now-condensed primary electorate in some huge states (Feb. 5th) is a very costly proposition. Gingrich, perhaps, but the prospects for the others seem dim at best.
On the Democratic side, however, things are different. First of all, the primary electorate so far seems pretty satisfied with the top tier of presidential aspirants -- Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards. Hillary is the establishment candidate -- battle-tested and tough, and a hugely polarizing figure in American politics today. Barack is the fresh face -- dynamic and different, and untested so far. Then there's Edwards -- the other guy, for now.
There is a fear among Democrats, however, that none of the top tier can win. America isn't ready for a woman president and hates the Clintons; America isn't ready for a black president; Edwards was a weak sister on the 2004 ticket, and won't be any different this time around; and so the arguments go.
Off stage (but not too far in the wings) is Al Gore. He's the guy many Democrats think already won in 2000. He railed against the Iraq War from the beginning -- in stark contrast to the junior Senator from New York. He championed the environment long before it was cool to do so. In short, Gore, for all his past political faults (and there are many) is where the core of the Democratic Party is today. And he finally seems to be the breathing human being people couldn't find in his last run.
With that in mind, speculation around Gore's possible entry into the 2008 race has run rampant in recent weeks. Readers will recall the rumors that he would announce his candidacy while picking up an Oscar at the Academy Awards several weeks ago. And many are watching his waistline these days, to see if the portly former Vice President is getting back in fighting shape.
Politico's John Harris has penned an excellent new piece on the subject -- a quick and insightful read.
While conventional wisdom says a Gore 2008 run is still unlikely, his late entry seems far more plausible than others, mostly because everyone in America already knows him. As Harris points out, a hotly contested early series of Democratic primaries, yielding split results, could set him up for a successful late run.
A 2008 Gore candidacy, while improbable, is nonetheless interesting to contemplate, and clearly already has a lot of folks buzzing. Stay tuned.
Posted by houtopia at March 19, 2007 10:58 PM