Gore/Obama '08

By Creature

A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll has Hillary Clinton solidifying her lead and her status as the inevitable Democratic nominee. The numbers give Hillary a 14-point lead over Obama and another 24 over Edwards. While Iowa and New Hampshire could change the equation, I can't see Hillary losing much ground before that point. Which leads me to this bit of wishful thinking: Al Gore will jump in the race.

Faced with Hillary's inevitableness the left will need a serious anti-war candidate as an alternative to her. Obama was supposed to play that role, but in the poll numbers game, he's got no game, and that's the game were playing. And, yes, I'm discounting Obama's fund raising numbers. They're good, but not game changing. Which brings me back to Gore.

Al Gore is the only one who can seriously threaten Hillary. If, and when, he steps in Gore gets all of Edwards' netroots support and I suspect he gets a good chunk of Obama's as well. He's at 30 percent without even trying. And with the stakes so high I would not be surprised if Gore not only got Obama's supporters, but that he lands Obama himself. Obama will calculate that Gore is his ticket to the White House and together they will leave Hillary, and her bad judgment, behind.

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My Reaction co-bloggers have also weighed in on the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. Carol's take can be found here. Edward's take here.

Michael's opinion on the whole Gore '08 thing can be found here. And his Gore/Obama reaction in general [via a super-secret email to Creature central]: "Experience at the top, inspiration at the side. Fantastic." Sounds fantastic to me too, Boss.

(Cross-posted at State of the Day.)