The dream scenario for the Gore supporters who’ve kept the faith was that Al would pick up the Nobel, return to national acclaim and a draft Gore movement and then—like a modern day Cincinnatus—reluctantly return to public life for the good of the Republic. I’ve always been rather sceptical about this scenario. Gore still has many of the political weaknesses that so bedevilled his 2000 run for the presidency and if he gets in the race he splits the anti-Hillary vote. Also many doubt whether he has the stomach for the fight that would follow.
But it is almost certain that Gore would still like to stop Hillary. To paraphrase Princess Diana, Al Gore thinks that there were three people in the Clinton-Gore presidency, making it a bit crowded.
If Gore really wants to stop Hillary, he’ll not only endorse Obama—something that as Mark Halperin notes in Time is just what the Obama camp needs right now—but also use his position to make the two most damming critiques in Democratic primary terms of her.
First, he could join in Obama’s assault on her for her recent vote for a bill that some claim, rather excitedly, could be used by the Bush administration to justify going to war with Iran. Gore as the most senior figure to speak out against the Iraq war back in 2002-03 has the credibility with Democratic voters to really hurt her on this.
Second, he could criticise her for her political calculation and commitment to incremental change. Gore could announce with the zeal of the convert that he undoubtedly is that now is the time for boldness, to leave a legacy—Gore’s defeat to George W. Bush acts as a powerful reminder that two terms of Bill Clinton didn’t realign US politics.
If Gore did this he could help propel Obama to victory in the lead-off caucus in Iowa, a state that is more anti-war and liberal than most. An Obama win in Iowa would transform the race, giving him the momentum that he so lacks at the moment. The importance of a win in Iowa for Obama is enhanced by the fact that he has been carefully husbanding the vast sums of money he’s been raising to ensure that he can capitalise on such an opening.
What’s in it for Gore apart from stopping Hillary? Well, if he could guide Obama to the nomination he would establish himself as the king-maker of the Democratic Party guaranteeing that his agenda for the party’s future, not the Clinton’s, takes centre stage.
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