Gore bailed out for a number of reasons. Hillary, who hates him, refused to back him. And Gore knows full well that if he goes up against Bush in 2004, Bush will blow him out of the water. In other words, in a rehash of 2000, the final verdict will be a decisive one. Gore would rather go down in history as the Guy Who Got Cheated, than the Guy Who Got His Tail Waxed. Better to come back for a whole new ball game in 2008. Of course, Hillary will still be there blocking him...even if she ran in 2004.

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I don't consider Kerry's "youthful indiscretions" any more important than Bush's. Do you?

Most of his stuff is warmed-over standard Democratic big government, but he shows signs of some originality in some of his economic ideas.

Don't have a lot of familiarity with the field. Are there some dark horses out there?