12/14/00 12:30 p.m.
Run, Al, Run!
Republicans should hope they haven’t seen the last of Gore.

By NR’s John J. Miller & Ramesh Ponnuru

s for what I'll do next, I don't know the answer to that one yet," said Vice President Gore last night, during his concession speech to George W. Bush. There's already some speculation he'll run for president again, and a few pundits have suggested he'd be the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. History tells us that when a candidate wins the popular vote but not the Electoral College, he's a pretty good bet the next time around. Can't you see Gore, sometime next year, making a "private" visit to the Hermitage — Andrew Jackson's home — to invoke the memory of a man from Tennessee who came back to beat the son of a one-term president following an Electoral College defeat? It would be a clear signal to his party, and the country.

To which Republicans should say: Bring him on!

There may be those who hope this doesn't happen. To be sure, there would be a kind of secure pleasure in taking Gore up on his offer of last night: "I personally will be at [Bush's] disposal." Imagine the scene, right after next week's meeting between the two men. Bush could make an important announcement during a joint press conference: "I'm pledged to bipartisanship, and today I appreciate how the vice president has graciously accepted my offer to serve as ambassador to Liechtenstein, a small country with a big heart. Its 61 square miles, lodged between Austria and Switzerland, are not quite the size of Washington, D.C. Dick Cheney told me about Liechtenstein last night…"

Instead, Republicans should hope Gore's life ambition has not flickered, because his candidacy four years from now may very well help them. If the GOP is the party of the coronation &#!51; the one that's inclined to nominate candidates when it's "their turn" to run (think Bob Dole) — Democrats are the party of the fresh face: Jimmy Carter, Michael Dukakis, Bill Clinton. This would suggest that a figure like California Gov. Gray Davis has a real shot in 2004. But whoever the Democrats pick, it seems unlikely they'll go with a fellow who ran as the successor to a popular president during a strong economy — and still lost, partly because people think he's a lying dork.

If Gore does run, he'll no doubt be a formidable candidate — which means the Democrats may have a bitter primary. Think Gore vs. Hillary. That's a prospect Republicans should welcome. Ralph Nader showed how much uneasiness there is on the Left; perhaps this will grow over the next four years. And there's always the chance Gore will demand a recount somewhere.

Of course, it's also possible for a contested primary to make a candidate stronger. John McCain's challenge to Bush probably made Bush a steelier nominee this fall. But even if a failed Gore primary bid yields a strengthened Democratic nominee, wouldn't it be fun to see one more Gore concession?