A Gore/Obama ticket could happen, and here is how.
There is no reason why an undeclared candidate couldn’t be named in the Iowa caucuses. And there is no reason why Gore couldn’t come in a strong 3rd in Iowa, even if he isn’t a candidate. And; if Gore comes in 3rd in Iowa as an undeclared candidate, he could skip New Hampshire and South Carolina and enter the campaign just in time for super Tuesday.
Gore doesn’t need the early races at all because he doesn’t need to introduce himself to the democratic party base or the public at large. We already know him. We’ve seen him on TV. We’ve heard of his movie. Some of us have seen it. He only needs to remind us that he was right about climate change, right about Iraq, and that things were going well when he and Bill were in office.
Being in 3rd and heading into super Tuesday with positive momentum and a good story about a political comeback will put him in exactly the position that the Clinton 92 campaign was in.
If he can make a strong showing on super Tuesday, the positive press he is going to get will cancel out any and all of the monetary advantages that Hillary and Obama will have had. And unlike Hillary or Obama, he won’t owe much to many. Nor will he have been mentioned or associated with any negative attack ads. And by that time, he might have an Oscar and a Nobel Prize; making him even more appealing by being less of a politician. As a candidate, Gore will be more dynamic than Hillary and more experienced than Obama.
So why Obama? Gore couldn’t choose Hillary. While Clark, Kerry and Joe Biden would all be good choices for the second spot; I don’t think Gore would pass up the opportunity to put a well liked and charismatic successor under his wing. John Edwards is also a pass. And while he might go with Tom Vilsack or Bill Richardson I think Obama is the clear choice.
The best part about this prediction is that if I’m right, I’ll post a link to my original post the day after Iowa, thereby cementing the power of my analytic skills. And if I’m wrong, no one will remember anyway. Punditry is damn easy work.
