More Gore in '08

By Vince Guerrieri
210 west Managing Editor [send email]

People see me and they think, “He’s risen from the dead!”
--Richard Nixon

Al Gore, I’m on to you!

Gore, the former Vice-President and former next president of the United States, endorsed Howard Dean in his bid for President in 2004. Reports state that Gore believed that a protracted primary season fought among Democratic candidates would bode well for President Bush.

But I know the real reason Gore’s endorsing the former Vermont governor. It’s the latest step in a Nixon-like reimaging, culminating in Al Gore—tanned, rested and ready—becoming president in 2008.

First, a little historical perspective. Richard Nixon served as vice president for Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961 before running for president in 1960 against John Kennedy, the scion of a political dynasty. Nixon was regarded as the more substantive candidate, but lost in a squeaker in the first modern television campaign, which saw Nixon playing the piano on “The Tonight Show.”

After that, Nixon ran for governor of California in 1962, losing to Edmund G. “Pat” Brown. Nixon then gave the immortal press conference that included the phrase “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.” He lied.

Nixon campaigned for Barry Goldwater for president in 1964. Goldwater then went on to lose to Lyndon Johnson in what was at the time the largest presidential victory ever.

But by 1968, Nixon was back and the Democratic Party was in shambles (so what else is new?). A Texan was president, and the United States was in a protracted land war in Southeast Asia. Nixon appeared on “Laugh-In.” The election against Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey was another squeaker, but this time, Nixon emerged victorious. Four years later, Nixon rolled to the largest margin of victory in American history against George McGovern, winning 49 of 50 states (a feat duplicated by Ronald Reagan 12 years later).

Goldwater and Nixon had far-reaching effects. Goldwater crystallized the conservative base of the Republican Party, which swept Reagan into office and led to Republican control of Congress in the 1990s. Nixon normalized relations with China, got the United States out of Vietnam and brought peace to the streets. Were it not for Watergate, he’d be the president lionized by today’s Republicans, not Reagan.

However, it was Watergate that paved the way for Reagan and the first George Bush, and Bush really sowed the seeds of his own demise, which led us to the orgy that was the Clinton administration.

Al Gore ran for president in 2000 after serving as Bill Clinton’s vice president for eight years. He ran against George W. Bush, the scion of a political dynasty. Gore was regarded as the more substantive candidate, but lost in a squeaker. Gore retired to private life, having his fill of politics…for a while. He hosted Saturday Night Live (which I thought Bill Clinton would do first).

And now what? The Democrats appear to be in just as much disarray as the Republicans were coming into 1964. Much as Goldwater was painted as a radical conservative (saying “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice” will do that for a man), the Democratic candidates are painted as bleeding-heart liberals. A Texan’s gotten us involved in what will likely be a protracted land war in the Middle East.

But even if we get four more years of Dubya, Al Gore will come out smelling like a rose. It could be Richard Nixon’s ultimate revenge.

You heard it here first.