While I agree with your “don’t PO the Clintons” point to a degree, I think that Gore will not run if someone truly breaks away from the pack and is, right now, enjoying his view from the sidelines.

Conversely, I believe (perhaps it’s really hope) that if the Dem field is somehow still split after mega-super-duper-Tuesday he might let himself be drafted as a consensus candidate.

Then again, I might be wrong.

Although kritter reminds me I’ve got to dig up some of those old jokes……waddya mean by “he was right on the internet?” Meaning who “invented it”?……..chortle, chortle, chortle.

["global warming" -- rolling eyes]

I believe he’d do well if he ran. He has a HUGE fan base and there’s a lot of people wanting some revenge after Gore lost in 2000. What better replacement of the current President could there be, in that sense? (As with Hillary Clinton, I do not question Gore’s competence, K., so don’t suspect that I do. In public he’s largely robotic but in fact he has a quite a mind, from what even critics have said.)

I’m sure you’re feeling better already, having gotten that off your chest.

- We may well not have any real change in the current situation in Iraq or in the domestic politicking around Iraq

- Hillary might still be leading in the polls, but looking vulnerable

- Obama and/or Edwards might appear unlikely to turn Hillary’s vulnerability to his/their advantage due to problems in his/their own candidacies

- a GOP candidate (Fred Thompson) might have developed some positive momentum, based largely on anti-immigration sentiment combined with some effective fear-mongering.

This combination of circumstances or some other might have a critical mass of influential figures publicly urging Gore to run, and at that point his candidacy becomes much more likely than it appears now.

I guess the current capitalist-in-chief doesn’t fare too well by comparison!

BTW, casual- Chris Matthews is keeping his eye on Gore’s weight loss or lack of it, lol.

Ironically, with all of the talk about them being borderline socialists, they are both helping to pave the way (along with Gates, et al.) to create a new brand of free-market based charity. I think it’ll prove widely successful.

My schedule is so hectic that I probably can’t make a conference call myself but I would offer it to other TMV writers if I can’t do it for any reason. This exclusion won’t influence my posts that I write on anyone (I have written posts and before weblogs blasting politicos I later voted for for other reasons). But I will not be linking to or writing about candidates talking to bloggers if TMV was not in on the calls.

But as you noted, TMV as a site does not endorse candidates, although the wide sprectrum of writers offers people who might let their individual preferences known (and we don’t all agree with each other on tmv). I myself tend to ask very tough questions in interviews which is due to my newspaper background. But candidates who get non-PR questions often do quite well because they might answer a question in a way that makes the resulting story more compelling than a perfunctory PR venture.

Anyone who writes on TMV can attest that all of our plates are quite full, but that isn’t the issue with the conference calls. Candidates, as most of talk radio, only want to talk to blogs on the left and right, as if there is no center in the blogosphere, a myth the media also perpetuates.

Gore: Agreed – I don’t think he’s running. He’s having a great time, he’s loved, he’s earning lots of $…

he would a fool to run. It would make his life difficult again. Everything he touches right now turns into gold. He’d better enjoy it.