Cold Water

Michael Goodwin, writing in the New York Daily News, throws several buckets of cold water on the fantasies about Al Gore running for president again. He points out that these fantasies that surface now and again these days are dangerous for the Democrats for a number of very good reasons.

Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are first and second in national party polls for good reason: Clinton has the track record, money, field operation and star power and Obama has the energy, charisma and freshness. It escapes me how Gore would be more attractive than either or both in a general election.

One poll had Gore at 14%, in third place, ahead of John Edwards. That seems pretty good for a guy not running, until you remember that 14% is about where Newt Gingrich is among Republicans, and nobody thinks he's going to be President.

The Gore Fantasy is an example of the Democratic ritual of eating their own, of indulging in bickering and second-guessing until defeat has been secured. The habit was on full display in Friday's House vote on ending the war in Iraq. Despite promises to bring the troops home and blistering attacks on the GOP "culture of corruption," Speaker Nancy Pelosi's team openly bought votes by promising tens of millions of dollars in wasteful subsidies for dairy farmers, spinach producers and peanut businesses. Hard-line liberals were fighting ultrahard-line liberals.

After all that, the bill, which continues war funding even as it requires withdrawal by September 2008, got the barest possible majority, 218 votes. It will not pass the Senate and, even if it does, Bush would veto it. That means Dems eventually will have to vote for a "clean" funding bill or be guilty of defunding our troops in battle. If Friday's vote was victory, it's hard to imagine what defeat would look like.

A Gore candidacy would be extremely amusing for a lot of people. Because it would be exactly like playing Whack-A-Mole. But Gore could not win the general election. The Democrats, I think, are in real trouble as a result of the vote in the House on Friday as it is. An attempt by Gore to run again would sink the entire party in short order.

On second thought, run, Al, run!