December 9, 2003

ALL ABOUT '08?:

Gore v. Clinton (John Ellis, 12/09/2003, Tech Central Station)

Today's endorsement is a transformational event in two respects; (1) it will make Gov. Dean the prohibitive favorite to win the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination and, (2) it will make you think differently about Al Gore.

From Gore's point of view, the latter piece is what matters. He's doing something no one expected him to do. He's throwing down the gauntlet in front of Hillary and her husband's hired hacks at the Democratic National Committee. And he's picking a fight with all the conventional wisdom ("Gore's finished") in the world.

It's a very shrewd move. Start with the least likely outcome. If Governor Dean defeats President Bush in 2004, Al Gore becomes Secretary of State or a Supreme Court Justice or whatever he wants, the day after the election is over. That's how much Dean will owe him.

If Dean loses, Gore will be the rightful heir to the Dean apparatus; the single most impressive fund-raising and organizing operation in Democratic Party politics. He'll inherit the only network that is capable of competing with and defeating the Clinton network, which it has by proxy in the Dean v. Clark competition. If politics is finally a matter of real estate, as Norman Mailer argued in his classic study of the 1968 conventions, then title to the Dean property is without question the single most valuable asset of the 2004 experience. It will be Gore's and Gore's alone on "the day after Dean goes down."

More important, by playing the role of uber-mentor to Dean's 2004 campaign, Gore can begin the process of reinventing himself and his candidacy for the 2008 campaign.


One wonders if perhaps Mr. Gore wants to be head of the DNC.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 9, 2003 8:40 PM
Comments

Watched the "debate" tonight. Lieberman was the only one who made any sense. No wonder the Democraps are in a rage. Hillary's their only viable candidate. The circus is coming to Boston in 2004 and what a treat. We get to see Snow White and the nine dwarfs! Or is the plural dorks?

Posted by: Genecis at December 9, 2003 10:30 PM

Without holding an office I don't Gore will appear relevant for '08. Head of the DNC seems too inside baseball to relaunch a career from. At least Nixon wrote books and gave speeches to maintain his stature after losing in '60, Gore is heading way off to the left.

Posted by: AWW at December 9, 2003 10:47 PM

Gore has reinvented himself so many times it's hard to be sure at the moment if this is just his latest reincarnation -- Populist Al -- or if he truly has lurched off to the far left of the party for whatever reason.

Unfortunately for him, if he thinks the Dean brigade is automatically going to turn his way should Howard lose the 2004 election, he's going to end up looking pitiful when the party's far left either embrases Hillary or goes off following a fresher face than someone trying for the third time in 20 years to make it into the White House.

Posted by: John at December 9, 2003 11:41 PM

The only thing Gore and Dean have in common is being to the manor born and always looking like their shirts are a size too small.

Posted by: jim hamlen at December 9, 2003 11:42 PM

I'm no fan of Al Gore or Howard Dean. That said, no one seems to have considered the possibility that Gore likes Dean, likes his policy prescriptions and, and therefore wishes to endorse him for president.

Is that over-the-top naive?

Posted by: EO at December 9, 2003 11:56 PM

This is such an obvious back-stab of Lieberman, I just wonder if it will end up hurting Gore and/or Dean.

Posted by: Mike Morley at December 10, 2003 6:24 AM

EO: Hey, I'll admit it's possible. It's just that poor Al was programmed (and I mean that precisely) from a young age to want to be President; I just assume every public action he takes has something to do with that. You may be right; I may be crazy.

Posted by: Chris at December 10, 2003 9:18 AM

But it just might be a lunatic we're looking for.

Dean for President.

Posted by: David Cohen at December 10, 2003 12:40 PM

(RIM SHOT!) Well done, David. (and thanks Mr. Joel)

Posted by: John Resnick at December 10, 2003 1:17 PM
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