Given Kal's thoughtful diary on the prospect of Al Gore entering the race, I noticed a number of comments elaborating on the best VP prospect should he win the nomination.
It was interesting that Edwards, Clarke, Obama and Richardson supporters all chimed in suggesting their guy was the best fit, which implies many here, while being firmly behind their candidates, have a special place in their heart for Al. Even as a fervent Obama supporter, I would put myself in that boat as well.
More after the fold...
I wouldn't support the stiff, lame version of Gore that ran in 2000, but rather Gore 2.0, the comfortable-in-his-own-skin guy that we caught a glimpse of with his smooch of Tipper at the 2000 Democratic Convention. The guy that grew the beard. The guy that was loose, interesting, and even funny on late-night shows after the election. And the guy that, evidently, since the filming of "An Inconvenenient Truth", has had no problem conveniently navigating his way through a buffet-line or two.
One wonders about potential tickets, and Gore-Obama has the look of a dream-ticket given Gore's current popular state among party faithful and Obama's appeal as the future of the party. However, there's that little problem known as Hillary -- and the animosity between Gore and the Clintons has been no secret. That said, the presence of both in the campaign would make for so much intrigue -- and, after all, Al has only himself to blame for choosing not to ride Bill's coat-tails back into the White House.
The success of Bill Clinton's administration made him the most frequent and obvious target of the right-wing smear machine. His impeachment (after which he continued to maintain high approval ratings, to the chagrin of the GOP) tempered their ire, but Hillary has now assumed the role of Public Enemy #1. The only person who could POSSIBLY take the crown for being the new chief target of GOP animosity is our buddy Al.
Undoubtedly there would be a lot of red-state sleep lost at night worrying about their worst nightmare -- Clinton-Gore III. One can almost hear Bill laughing his azz off next to Hillary in the Oval office right now. Talk about the "Comeback Kid", not only did he come away from impeachment smelling like a rose in the eyes of most Americans, he virtually got re-elected to a third term! And Gore could certainly get his global-warming agenda pushed through from the VP position.
While an interesting notion, as long as the new software upgrade doesn't crash his hard-drive, it is of course Al's time. Would he offer the VP slot to Hillary? Despite misgivings, would she accept given the history she would still be making for women everywhere?
After all, it might be her last chance to make off with the rest of the furniture...hmm...