Here are a few thoughts on the Gore in Four question.
(First, take into account that Talking Points is something of a Gore booster. So keep that in mind when evaluating his credibility on this question.)
1. On the question of the quality of Gore’s campaign. Most of my friends say Gore ran a crummy campaign. More important, the one person whose political opinions I respect more than anyone else (I’ll him Mr. X) says Gore ran a crummy campaign. However, consider this question: How many losing candidates do you know who ran good campaigns? How many losing candidates do you know of, of whom it was said: “Man! He lost big. But damn did he run a great campaign!” Right. None.
This doesn’t mean Gore didn’t run a crummy campaign. Just that it’s very hard to evaluate a campaign through the prism of it’s own defeat. (Of course, I too often thought that Gore ran a crummy campaign and said so here and here among other places. So who knows.)
2. When you’re reading an article about whether Dems will support Gore for another run in 2004 don’t forget to use the Talking Points de-knife-in- the-back-spin formula. (Formula: count number of quotations from politicians who themselves want to run in 2004. Double this number. Now divide the number of paragraphs in the article by this doubled number. If the answer is less than one throw away the article; between one and two, take it with a grain of salt; over two, take it seriously.)
2b. Quotes by shameless stab-in-the-back self-promoters like Bob Torricelli who may be in denial and think they can run in 2004 count for THREE under the Talking Points de-knife-in -the-back formula.
3. It’s just too early to tell. Go back to what people were saying about Dick Nixon in early 1961. No one had any idea what 1964 would be like or 1968 would be like. All speculation right now makes no sense.
4. Dukakis is not a realistic analogy for Gore. Dukakis was utterly untested politically outside the provincial environs of Massachusetts. Gore’s been in national politics for a quarter century. Plus, Dukakis completely sucked as a candidate and Gore only kinda sucked. Not comparable.
5. Pundits are ignoring the real angle for a possible Gore comeback. With deft management (okay, not that likely) Gore could turn his primary disability this year into an advantage. That disability was that he had connections with almost every wing of the party but he wasn’t quite identified with or beloved by any of them. However, without the centripetal force of Clintonism Dems may well become more polarized between their labor-left and New Dem wings. Gore could turn out to be one of the only people to run with support in both these groups, who can bridge that gap. Gore has developed quite good relations with the labor wing of the party. And the folks at the DLC, once they get through shamelessly stabbing him in the back, will realize he’s still at heart basically one of them. (In some respects this bridging is what Nixon was able to do in 1968. Yes, back to Nixon.)
P.S. Email to my friends with gorenet.com email addresses is starting to get bounced back with “fatal errors.” Ouch! Okay, I’ve got to deal. This really must be over.
P.P.S. Al, don’t fret. Some of these points above must be true. Don’t fret. You want Talking Points to come work for you and play Boswell to your Dr. Johnson? Just say the word!
P.P.P.S. Alright, I’ve really got to get over this.
