Will He or Won't He? Check His Pants

Everyone seems to be reading the tea leaves in order to ascertain whether or not Al Gore will run for president in 2008.

Eleanor Clift in Newsweek (full disclosure: my former employer) reports that Gore is losing weight, and that this might be a sign that he's thinking of running:

A leading indicator of his intentions could be Gore's waistline. The theory is that slimming down will be a signal he intends to run. "He has lost a few pounds, and Hillary can read into that what she wants," says a longtime adviser who declined to be identified discussing his boss's figure. Gore has always been a voracious eater, and at 58, the pounds don't come off so easily. He is trying to be healthier, working out daily when he can.

So Gore losing (or trying to lose) weight means he's running? I'm not so sure. Elsewhere in the same Newsweek piece, Clift reports that Laurie David (wife of Larry David and an environmental activist) has openly advocated that Gore should run:

Laurie David, who helped bankroll Gore's film, and whose "personal fantasy" is that he run, says that when she presses him, he's always coy and says his cell phone is breaking up. "I believe him when he says he doesn't have any intention of running," David told NEWSWEEK. "But I also believe the door is not completely shut."

But how long can that door stay ajar? This is turning into the most ridiculously front-loaded race in the history of presidential primaries, and chances are that whoever wins Iowa and New Hampshire will be unbeatable. How long can Gore hold out if he wants to get into the race? Even now we're hearing stories of Hillary Clinton making phone calls to prospective supporters only to find out that Barack Obama had gotten there first. The people who would ordinarily support Gore are going to be snatched up by other candidates very soon.

Gore says he has not intention of running, and I respect that: the fact is that anyone who is willing to do what it takes to be president should probably be disqualified for the job anyway. But whoever moves into the White House in January of 2009 will have an awesome (in the true sense of the word) job on his or her hands -- dealing with an economy that may well be in shambles by then; trying to get legislation passed through a Congress that has a very thin Democratic majority -- and of course, trying to muck out the steaming abbatoir that is Iraq. It's not an enviable job. One can certainly understand why Gore might want the cup to pass from him.

But the country needs him. I honestly believe that -- as well as I believe that Gore is the best and most qualified person to run the country and clean up the mess that George W. Bush and his band of criminals have made.

Half the country, and quite possibly more than half, hates Hillary Clinton with a passion. And the left wing of the Democratic party isn't crazy about her either.

Barack Obama has had exactly two years experience in Congress (to give you some perspective, when JFK ran for president at a similar age he had 14 years experience in Congress).

Al Gore is the best candidate the Democrats can find.

But will they find him? Better yet, will he allow himself to be found?

Tom Moran