GORE SUPPORTS DEAN, screwing the

GORE SUPPORTS DEAN, screwing the candidate backed by his former bosses (Clark) and his own running mate in 2000 (Lieberman) in the process.

Orrin Judd writes, “Say what you will about the Clintons, but they seem concerned about the Party, while Mr. Gore would seem to have picked the most anti-Bush candidate for that reason alone.”

Andrew Sullivan’s take? Sullivan writes:

You have to remember that just because almost everyone else on the planet thinks Al Gore’s political career is over, Al Gore doesn’t. By endorsing Dean now, he stands to get a major job in a potential Dean administration. Secretary of State? Supreme Court Justice? Who knows what elaborate scenarios Gore has been contemplating in his own mind. And if Dean goes down in flames (which must surely be the likeliest eventuality), Gore has allied himself with the energized, leftist Democratic base, and could position himself in 2008 as the real soul of the party – unlike that centrist opportunist, Senator Clinton. In fact, the minute after a Bush re-election, the Gore-Clinton struggle for control of the party begins again in earnest.

RTWT.

UPDATE: And be sure to read Stephen Green’s post on the subject, as well as the comments to it.