Gore '08? Really?

Maybe Hilary isn't the presumptive Democratic nominee. Over at Talking Points Memo, Matthew Yglesias reads a New York Times article that says "Many people like Gore, but he's stigmatized because of his failure last time"---and then, as M.Y. notes, the article fails to interview anyone who actually feels that way. So he's done his own off-the-cuff research and discovers (mostly) the opposite: most of the Democrats who replied actually like Gore, with one exception: the vocal anti-PMRC wing (Remember those PMRC folks? Used to put labels on music albums?).

I'm not a safe guy to ask in this debate because I always felt that the only thing Gore did wrong in 2000 was not stand up in the middle of the Presidential debate and say, "Forget all this 'he-said, she-said' crap! I'd just like to point out that I've been serving this country in the Senate for twenty years longer than my opponent has even been sober!" Harsh, but hard to forget once you're in the voting booth. Then later he could have maybe added, "And I actually did sponsor the bill that funded ARPANET, which turned into the Internet. And I'd like to remind our journalists that confirming facts like this is what The Congressional Record is published for." This is why I'll never be a politician---that, and the fact that I'm an atheist, which makes me theoretically ineligible to hold office in seven states.

Still, that gives me a great idea for a bumper sticker this time around: VOTE FOR A PRESIDENT, NOT A DRINKING BUDDY. I welcome other suggestions. (Jason?)