Gore won't run in 2004
I confess to being surprised by Gore's decision, just like everyone else who thought his Barbara Walters interview was part of a staged PR rollout.:
The candidate who benefits most is Howard Dean. The true impact of Dean on the field was always filtered out by inclusion of Gore in polls - it will be interesting to see how Dean's numbers are affected by Gore's decision.
Dean has to make the cut for the Democratic primary debates. If he can get on stage, it will be an enormous advantage, because his position on the issues is much more strategically sound and honest than any of his competitors. And with the 800-lb gorilla of a Gore candidacy gone, Dean is no longer eclipsed.
And, in a larger sense, the pessimistic dismissal of Dean's presidential ambitions by his home state political crowd is now seriously undercut - his detractrs at home in Vermont have long since asumed Dean was angling for a cabinet position (most likely Health and Human Services). With Gore gone, Dean can be more independent.
Overall, this is a huge boost for Dean's campaign. The next round of polls will be critical.
UPDATE: More coments from Dean, as related in this WaPo article:
UPDATE: Jeff Cooper has some thoughts on how this might affect Dean as well.
"I personally have the energy and drive and ambition to make another campaign, but I don't think it's the right thing for me to do," Gore told CBS's "60 Minutes."
"I think that a campaign that would be a rematch between myself and President Bush would inevitably involve a focus on the past that would in some measure distract from the focus on the future that I think all campaigns have to be about."
...
Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont officially declared in the spring that he was running. "What it does is make sure there's no front-runner," Dean said after learning of Gore's decision.
The candidate who benefits most is Howard Dean. The true impact of Dean on the field was always filtered out by inclusion of Gore in polls - it will be interesting to see how Dean's numbers are affected by Gore's decision.
Dean has to make the cut for the Democratic primary debates. If he can get on stage, it will be an enormous advantage, because his position on the issues is much more strategically sound and honest than any of his competitors. And with the 800-lb gorilla of a Gore candidacy gone, Dean is no longer eclipsed.
And, in a larger sense, the pessimistic dismissal of Dean's presidential ambitions by his home state political crowd is now seriously undercut - his detractrs at home in Vermont have long since asumed Dean was angling for a cabinet position (most likely Health and Human Services). With Gore gone, Dean can be more independent.
Overall, this is a huge boost for Dean's campaign. The next round of polls will be critical.
UPDATE: More coments from Dean, as related in this WaPo article:
Dean, who went on to assert in an interview that in Gore's absence, he is "the only candidate who opposed the president's request for congressional authorization of military force against Iraq and the only one advocating universal health insurance. It makes it easier for me to distinguish myself from the field."
UPDATE: Jeff Cooper has some thoughts on how this might affect Dean as well.
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