If Gore is going to endorse Obama, he needs to do it prior to Super Tuesday.  After that it may be too late.

Just to make it fun, I predict that Gore will give his endorsement on Friday at noon EST.

Dean began his dissent after the Gore endorsement.

Note:  I'm not trying to say that Gore was the primary reason Dean lost.

is what happens if he endorses Obama, and Clinton goes on to soundly defeat him on Super Tuesday. One can almost here the MSM salivating at the opportunity to knock Gore down a peg or two.

"Well, Obama was riding high with Ted Kennedy's endorsement. Then Gore came along and set him back."

Leaving aside the merits, I don't see how Gore hurts himself by waiting until after Super Tuesday, possibly after Virginia.

I would also add, if Hillary's not defeated in the coming weeks, the party will need a credible peacemaker at some point in the future. I'd rather see Gore, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, save himself for that role.  

Particularly when Obama does not exactly have the most green platform ever....

I don't see why Gore would endorse unless he agrees with the candidate's policy. And that goes for all of them.

The only reason Gore would endorse Obama would be to spirt the Clintons or to bring about new faces in the Democratic Party.  And I really don't think those are likely to push Gore over the edge.

I'm not expecting an endorsement. And if the Obama Campaign is wise, they won't either.  They'll campaign with what they have NOW.

n/t

endorsed Edwards saying his record was a closer match to Gore's

Would be a waste of an endorsement.  No offense, but Edwards knows his role in the rest of this election: Kingmaker.  Al Gore endorsing Edwards is unlikely to have any real chance of changing the outcome of the election.

right rather than expedient?

Possible, but unlikely.  

Al Gore will either endorse Obama, or not endorse at all.  And I think he's heavily leaning towards not endorsing at all.

Right?

But it's AL GORE we're talking about.  He's not gonna endorse the kingmaker.  He's gonna endorse the king (or queen).

I think the (Ted) Kennedy endorsement may have hurt also.  We'll find out going forward.

It may hurt Obama among whites in the South.  But in the Northeast and Southwest, where Obama appears to be much weaker, it'll probably help.  If Obama continues to perform in the South like he did in South Carolina, he can spare a few conservative democrats.

It may hurt him, however, in the GE, to have Kennedy's strong support in the primary.

I don't think Gore will do it. He has an independent agenda of his own and will be looking at a Democratic White House as a golden opportunity to push through many of his climate change proposals. The ability to do that is much more important to him than the exact identity of the person in the White House.

Gore doesn't know who is going to win this race and he doesn't want to risk having a nominee with a grudge against him that prevents his ideas and agenda from getting anywhere.

Yeah, I wish he would endorse Obama. I just don't think that it would be in Al Gore's best interest.

...I hear what you're saying, but I'd argue that a Democratic president would be in Gore's best interest.  And, to accomplish that, I strongly believe that we need Barack Obama as our nominee.

His impact is much stronger if he speaks at the convention in support of whomever the ultimate nominee is.  If he endorses someone, and that person goes down; then he's shut out. If Hillary gets elected I like to think that he won't be totally shut out. In fact if Hillary looks strong after super tuesday it may be better for him to endorse her.  

The Clintons and Gore left on very bad terms.  No way does he endorse Hillary until she for certain is the Democratic Nominee.

Gore doesn't have to posture for anybody.  He's not playing a power game.  He already has all the influence he needs to get his message across.  If he endorses, if won't be because somebody may give him a job in the administration.  It's because he wants that person to be President.

But lots of people are, like, nice?  And they're not enticed by the opportunity to strike a "death blow?"  Particularly when those people know intimately from first-hand experience what it's like to lose a Presidential bid?

Al Gore is a sincerely nice person with a wife whom he loves and a life outside of politics that's working just fine for him.  Maybe he does feel passionately for one candidate over another.  I don't know.  But he's gotten to the point where he has everything he needs and doesn't need to feel any more popular or powerful than he already is--otherwise HE would be running--and I think we should respect him for that.  If Al doesn't feel the need to remind you how big his nuts are by striking a "death blow" to someone else's campaign.

"How about to save the country?"  For Pete's sake, save the cheerleader, save the world....

If only things were as simple as saving one person and then using their blood to cure the world.  Or as simple as starting a paper company in West Texas.

more on that later...

could lead to anything.  A gore presidency could even happen. ...and you think I am kidding.

There is a long time between the end of primaries and the Convention.  That is a long time for "buyer's remorse" to set in.

By the time August rolls around, we could be begging for an outsider to come and save the day.  I for one would be all for it.

If Gore were the nominee. I would be fine with and Edwards or Obama VP.  Obama as VP would get him much needed experience.  Edwards as VP would set him up for Presdient down the road, or he could be on the cabinet as AG, of Sec,. of ??

Everyone is happy and we get the president many of us wanted from the get-go.  It's a Win/Win

My problem for this scenario is I'm trying to picture how three candidates who will have spent two years each and untold hundreds of millions of dollars to get where they are are going to give it to a white knight who rides in at the last minute.

But, yes, there is a lot of time between now and then, and anything could conceivably happen.

Back in the day, when Conventions really were brokered, that's how Lincoln would up with the GOP nomination in 1860. The three frontrunners -- Stanton, Chase and Bates -- could not agree, and gave Lincoln's supporters an opening.

sway any voters who haven't already been impacted by the numerous other Obama endorsements?  

Red state/purple state governors and senators on the one hand -- Caroline Kennedy and Ted Kennedy on the other combined with Sen. Leahy, Kerry, McCaskill, et al.  

The main thing at this point seems to be money, and organization.