The season is well upon us for the Presidential primaries, with all sorts of "Edwards is the Man!", "Hillary is the One!", and (of course) the "I got a crush on Obama" crew. All are well-meaning, and all have well-meaning diaries of their supporters cramming this site's "Recent Diaries" list. Frankly, I applaud each one of them, for they demonstrate by contrast the lack of motivation on the Repub side of the fence.
Still, I'm an Al Gore guy. Have been since the 2000 election, and just like Barry Bond's baseball will have an asterisk on it in Cooperstown forever, I think the encyclopedias the world over should have an asterisk next to G.W. Bush's name as President.
One question for all the Gore supporters and others out there, though: If Al jumps in, what will Bill Clinton do?
Some of it may have to do with the ambiguity of how those two left things in 2000. Yes, Gore didn't want Clinton to campaign with him, especially towards the end of the cycle. Yes, there were well-publicized disagreements between the two of them regarding the Lewinsky matter. So, will these come back into play?
Obviously, the larger issue is whether he sticks by his wife, and by "if", I mean "how" -- I don't see that being a question. Watching him on "Countdown" tonight, I couldn't help but be struck with how well the two of them had probably played that whole "Well, he's not standing here right now" answer to Russert's question, likely planning for it well in advance to show separation between them.
I miss the Big Dog, but Hillary isn't him. So, and not to make this diary too short, but I'm asking a moderate question: If Al Gore jumps in the race, perhaps in October or November should he win the Nobel Peace Prize, what would Bill do? I would find it hard to believe that he would stand by idly, but I also find it hard to believe that he would take it upon himself to denigrate his former Vice-President and fellow Democrat. I would only hope that he wouldn't sink to the level of back-room support of a swift-boating of Gore in the process.