At “The Fix”, Chris Cillizza observes that Al Gore has contributed to a Democratic mailing going out in Florida:
Six years after a lengthy recount fight left Gore just shy of the electoral votes needed to claim a victory over President George W. Bush, the former vice president is weighing in on behalf of Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), who is seeking a second term in November.
“Bill’s re-election campaign has become a lightning rod for many people across the country because of the personalities involved or likely to be involved in the race,” Gore writes in an appeal that found its way into Democratic mailboxes over the weekend.
That “personality” to which Gore refers? None other than Rep. Katherine Harris[....]
There should be a lot of people on both sides of the aisle who are peeved at the fumbling of the Florida 2000 election. It’d nice to see them still vent their frustrations at the ballot boxes in November.
Chris asks if this is a sign of a reemergent Al Gore on the political scene. Perhaps. However, I doubt that he’s back on the scene in the capacity of a national candidate. At least, I hope not. Considering how badly the donkies have fumbled the last several elections, they really ought to be finding a candidate who has charisma, and knows how to connect with voters.
That’s one thing you could say about Bill Clinton — you might not like him, and you might not want him spending time alone with your daughter, but he knew how to get votes without having to resort to playing games with hanging chads and reprogramming Diebold machines.
Heck, even Bush-43 connects well enough to enough people to defeat the shiny politician running on the “I’m not that other guy” platform.
I’ll welcome Gore back onto the scene, as a reminder of when the Democratic party was a more credible force, and perhaps offering the opportunity to add some illumination to what’s shaping up to be yet another mess. But I still wouldn’t vote for Gore for President.