First, in other primary news, Bill Richardson, whose energy plan was excellent but who failed to excite anyone, at all, even a little bit, has dropped out of the Dem primary. Also, John Kerry, who didn’t excite all that many people either, has endorsed Barack Obama.
The big question, according to Josh, is whom Al Gore will endorse. I’ve seen lots of speculation about this. My strong inclination is that Gore will not endorse anyone until the general, when he will endorse the Dem candidate. His endorsement of Dean has become something of a political joke among the chattering class, coming as it did just before Dean’s implosion. He’s got nothing to gain and much to lose from endorsing another losing candidate.
Right now Gore’s a powerful force in civic society. He needs a good relationship with whoever’s in the oval office. Why risk pissing off the winner with a primary endorsement?
Also, despite Gore’s recent rise in stature and popularity, the fact is that he does not, contra some of the more fevered boosterism you see around, command all that much devoted support among Democrats. The likely effect of his endorsement would be … very little. I can’t really imagine whose mind it would change. It might give a candidate a one or two day bump in the news cycle, but that’s about it. It’s risk of downside with no upside for him or the candidate.
For what it’s worth, it seems pretty obvious to me that he’d endorse Obama. But he has reached something of a detente with Hillary, and will need to be able to work with her should she win.
(Oh, also, uh, the two-party corporate duopoly totally sucks! Fight the Man! Vote Green! Or whatnot.)
