Save Us, Al Gore!

I've been thinking about Al Gore lately. Full disclosure--I am a liberal, bleeding-heart, tax and spend Democrat. Like many of my ilk, I have an optimistic eye on the 2008 presidential election, when Boob McNutt will retire to clearing brush and the Democrats have a great chance of retaking the White House. But who? I'm a Democrat, yes, but I have my feet on the ground, and don't look forward to a Hillary Clinton candidacy. She's smart, competent and probably would be a great president, but I think she'd get wiped out in a general election.

There are the usual suspects: John Edwards, Mark Warner, Joe Biden, Russ Feingold, etc. All would be fine. Fortunately, whoever the Republicans put up will be just as little known (with the exception of Dick Cheney, who would also get slaughtered in a general election, or Condoleezza Rice or John McCain). But I think Mr. Gore should make another run for it.

Sure, he has the aroma of a loser about him, and it seems that in this age, if you lose one race you're shamed for life. Candidates regularly ran several times in the old days, and Gore, should he run and win, would fit the pattern of Richard Nixon (an unfortunate comparison, yes, but illustrative nonetheless). Nixon, a young, two-term Vice President, lost a close election, and even was further embarrassed by a loss for California governor, sat out a cycle, and then came back and won.

Gore should be in the spotlight this year when the documentary about his work on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth, is released. It won't be the blockbuster Fahrenheit 911 was, but should get the chattering classes buzzing. From reports on those who have seen it, it is very alarming.

Should the Bush administration continue to anger the American public, Gore would have an excellent chance of winning. Voters will wistfully recall that he did, after all, win the popular vote in 2000. Perhaps bumper stickers could read, "Come Back Al, All Is Forgiven!" He would only need to win one state that he didn't win in 2000 (forget Florida--if he could win West Virginia or his own home state of Tennessee, he's in). I'm giddy at the glee I would experience hearing crushed commentators dealing with a Gore presidency, when they were sure he'd been consigned to the political compost heap.

Oh, and my recommendation for a running mate? Not Hillary, but Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius.