Al Gore’s drive to the Presidency began with a kiss and ended with a kiss.
Anybody watching the former Vice-President’s performance on Saturday Night Live, which began with a two and a half-minute kissing marathon with his wife, had to have sensed that it was his swan song. The terminally stiff Al Gore suddenly loosened his grip on himself and had a little fun – in public, no less. It was a prologue of what was to come the next day – his withdrawal from contention for the 2004 Presidential race.
It was as if a great weight he’s been carrying for years had suddenly been lifted from his shoulders and he was publicly reveling in the incredible lightness of his new being.
There should be no mystery about his reasons for pulling out of the race – Al Gore withdrew because it had become painfully obvious that he could not win. Polls show that a majority of voters did not want him to run again, Democrat king makers were turning away from him in droves, and, most convincing, his prospects for raising the vast amounts of money his candidacy would require were poor to non-existent.
As he and Tipper made the rounds relentlessly touting their book on countless TV shows across the nation, he was less interested in selling the book than he was in testing the waters for his potential candidacy. He found them icy. The book, despite a barrage of publicity, did not sell, that fact itself a grim omen for his presidential hopes. People greeted the couple warmly, but the smiles and the handshakes and the hearty welcomes came without any promises of support for his candidacy. Gore had to have recognized his appeal was that of a visiting celebrity rather than a potential President of the United States.
It may not have been obvious to the public, but Gore is painfully aware of the fact that always lurking in the background is Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is what he claimed to be but never was – the true heir to the Clinton legacy, such as it is.
In the eight years of the Clinton administration, Vice-President Gore had little or no influence whatsoever on policy matters. The same cannot be said for Hillary. What she said mattered. In truth, it was the Clinton/Clinton administration far more than it was the Clinton/Gore administration.
With her husband, and their stooge DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe, Hillary has the key to the money-raising vault, and Gore knows that they have no intention of handing it to him. They have other fish to fry.
Gore’s realization that he could not win in 2004 is not a reflection of any belief that George W. Bush cannot be beaten. On the contrary, last week he told NewsMax.com’s Chris Ruddy that he is fully convinced that Bush’s current sky high popularity will have plunged by the time the next election rolls around – and Bush will be beatable. But not, he knows, by him.
Al Gore’s withdrawal is the end of the Clinton/Gore era and the beginning of the Hillary Clinton ascendancy.
Mike Reagan, the eldest son of President Ronald Reagan, is heard on more than 200 talk radio stations nationally as part of the Premiere Radio Network. His column will be a new weekly feature in the Herald Newspapers.

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