Is Al Gore starved for attention?

First, there was the beard . . . it drew notice, but mainly for being weird. Then the rumors he might run again for President . . . a few Democrats felt a yearning for those halcyon days of 2000, but most mainly felt a yawning instead. Then, he financed his own movie ("Al Saves The World," or "Look At ME!" or something, I forget . . .) and its distribution, earning accolades from the Hollywood crowd and the usual suspects among the enviro-wacko community and some talk of Nobel Prizes and/or beatification. Tipper was fascinated.

Now, he allows he may just endorse one of the Democratic candidates before the primaries are over - such daring! Can the beard's return be far away? Chris Cillizza And Shailagh Murray write at the Washington Post:

Gore is, without question, the biggest "get" when it comes to the fight for endorsements on the Democratic side. Since his loss to George W. Bush, Gore has been transformed from a has-been politician to a happening global messenger on the dangers of climate change.

So popular has Gore grown that many within the grass roots of the party have urged him to make another bid for the White House, a prospect for which he continues to express little interest.

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Though Gore's endorsement would be powerful, it wouldn't be foolproof. In 2004, he threw in his lot with former Vermont governor Howard Dean about a month before Dean crashed and burned in Iowa.

Read it all at the link provided above. Sorry, gents - love your work, though - but where is the "power" in a Gore endorsement? As the authors note, he's not about to endorse Hillary, which would lock the nomination down for her. The others would all love to have it, but the real influence of endorsements has always been highly overestimated. Endorsements can help, especially in the case of a young or inexperienced candidate getting the nod from seasoned office-holders, but they rarely tip the scale. Most often, they flood in around the time the scale is about to tip anyway.

In fact, there is no evidence at all a Gore endorsement could help any of the other candidates against Hillary. It might shake a few undecideds to the lucky guy's cause, perhaps peel a point off of a couple other also-rans, but it's not going to be what beats Hillary - if anything can.

So, with no effect on the race, and only serving to further alienate the Clintons (who just might end up back at the White House), Gore's endorsement would do . . . nothing at all, for him or anyone else. Therefore, he won't endorse anyone until the race is effectively over, when he will jump on the winner's bandwagon, even if it is Hillary holding the reins.