Why endorse without Bill and Hill?

[mdmc]

:dem:
Why did Al Gore endorse Howard Dean without bringing Hillary and Bill Clinton on board? If there is a leader of our party it must be Bill Clinton.
Hillary has been quoted as saying essentially that she will back the candidate, and that she is not ready to back a simple frontrunner. She wants to see how the process unfolds.
Perhaps Bill is waiting for his better half as well.
Is there a split between the “insiders” (dlc / dnc / pro war dems)? Or has Gore decided that his populist campaign of 2000 is more of an outsider strategy? Would his endorsement help him push back Hillary in 2008 if we lose in 2004?
So here we are. Why endorse so early? Why not let the voters choose without the party leadership “weighing” in with endorsements? And why not bring all the big wigs on board if you want to “anoint” a candidate before any votes have been cast?
Lastly, didn't Gore state that he would have done exactly what Bush did when we first invaded? I have no documentation or links, I just remember that there were no Dems standing tall (in opposistion to pre emption) except Braun, Kucinich, and Sharpton (and my local Congressman, the right Honarable Maurice Hinchey). In NY, the entire party supported Bush, including NYSAG Spitzer, NYS Comptroller Hevesi, Sen. Schumer, and Hillary Clinton. I think I would have remembered Gore protesting.

[Eric J in MN]

1. Gore has his opinions and the Clintons have theirs.

Al Gore thinks it was a mistake to start the Iraq War at that time. That is one of the reasons he supports Howard Dean.


The Clintons may disagree.

[mdmc]

3. And Gore didn't flip flop on his support for preemption?

This is a question. I can't remember why I chose Dean over Kucinich, but I would have loved Kerry or Gore if they had opposed the war. I chose Dean after he eventually opposed the war.

[Khephra]

2. It's simple

There's the "go-with-the-polls" DLC faction of which the Clintons are in charge.

And there's the "we're sick of bi-partisanship to Bush" grassroots.

It's really easy to understand.

My hope: both sides will shake hands and defeat Bush, although I'm afraid some of the DLCers are too comfortable to share power with any new "upstarts".

[arewethereyet]

4. Al would like to become the de facto leader of the party

He was never 100% in agreement with Bill and he has his own vision of what is needed for the cause.

Why do you think he is involved with the media initiative ? This has been clear for some time now. He knows Bill won't be taking sides so the playing field was his alone.

Power play here.

[mdmc]

5. Bill is the "young Grandfather"

Al Gore can still be President.
Do you think that Gore was to the right or the left of Bill Clinton? Or is their difference political strategy (poll vs. position driven), as Khephra <#2> suggested above.