What Gore's endorsement really means

"Eight months of butt kissing ought to be enough for a new job."

Last night, Al Gore endorsed Sen. Obama.

Despite being a former vice president and close ally of Bill Clinton, a super delegate and being able to subtlety remind people Iraq wouldn't have had happened had he won in 2000, Gore's endorsement meant very little.

His endorsement would have had a lot more value had he not waited until Hillary and Obama had already fought it out to pick sides.

There's a good chance had Hillary came out on top in the primaries, she would have been sitting to his right listening to the same speech last night.

You can't wait until there's only one choice left then throw your support behind that choice and expect people to believe you.

It's like the guy who's trying to decide between two girls then as soon as one gets upsets and leaves on her own, runs to the other girl and says, "I pick you."

That girl would feel pretty special, just like Obama felt last night knowing when there was no one else left, Gore picked him.

Since loosing the 2000 election, Gore's has split his time up between saving the environment, giving speeches and whatever else one does when they realize their life has peeked at 52 (after you serve as vice president, there's only one job out there that's not a demotion).

Now he's probably bored and would like to return to work without going through another election, which leaves only one place for a man who has spent his life in politics: the next president's cabinet.

Gore doesn't care who he works for, as long as it's a Democrat that will pick him to work in his/her cabinet. Which is why he waited until the race was down to one person before throwing his support behind him, ensuring his endorsement would go to the party's winning candidate and avoiding potentially picking the party's losing candidate and upsetting that person who might later hand out free jobs.

His endorsement was highly sought by Hilary an Obama earlier in the primaries as the only last Democrat president or vice president not to be married to a candidate. However little it means at this time, it still meant more than Bush's endorsement of John McCain.

During the primaries, the Republican candidates separated themselves from the president and it wasn't until McCain had locked up the nomination that he decided, "I guess I oughta head to the White House and let Bush endorse me."

Unlike Gore who could have made his endorsement at any time during the campaign but chose to wait until there was only one candidate left, the Republican candidates waited until they had beat everyone else to accept the president's endorsement, by that time, it was a mere formality.

Bush is like the kid who gets picked after the kid who gets picked last on the playground. Team captains fight over which one has to take him and then only do to avoid upsetting his father.