MEMPHIS, Tenn. - With a select audience of still-loyal financial donors and political partisans cheering him on, Al Gore declared yesterday that if he ran again for president, he would shed the constraints of polls, tactics and consultants that hobbled his 2000 campaign and "let it rip."

The former vice president's closed-door meeting here with several dozen key backers, an event staged in part as a show of strength to other potential Democratic contenders, edged him further toward a declaration that he wants a rematch with President Bush in 2004.

While Gore officially remains uncommitted (he promises a decision after the November congressional elections), his wife, Tipper, says she wholeheartedly would support another run for the White House, squelching rumors about her reluctance. His daughter Karenna, also appearing here, said in even stronger terms that she wants him to go for it.

But first Gore must prove to many skeptical Democrats in Washington and across the country that he would be the party's best hope against a president who has gained considerable stature and popularity since winning the disputed 2000 election.

Modern political history suggests Gore's challenge: No defeated nominee of a major party has captured the party's nomination in the next presidential election since Adlai E. Stevenson prevailed in the Democratic convention of 1956. Stevenson, moreover, suffered a crushing loss in his rematch with President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Gore partisans say his agonizingly close defeat in 2000 - winning the popular vote but losing in the Electoral College - indicates that he has the stature to unseat the incumbent, assuming Bush seeks re-election.

So, about 95 of them gathered here in Gore's home state of Tennessee to hear the former vice president's post-mortem of 2000 and to rally behind him for what appears to be the beginnings of another campaign.

"If I had it to do all over again, I'd just let it rip," Gore said, according to an aide and others in the room. "To hell with the polls, tactics and all the rest." The crowd reportedly leapt to its feet and cheered. It remains to be seen whether Democrats nationwide will do the same.

Many donors and Washington-based party operatives are helping other contenders, including Sens. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina. Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, the House minority leader, has his own national network and looks ready to run. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the nation's highest-ranking elected Democrat, is considering a campaign. Gore's 2000 running mate, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, is gearing up to go for the White House if Gore doesn't (or maybe if he does). And Vermont Gov. Howard Dean has thrown his hat into the ring.

Playing down the Gore event, one top aide to a possible Democratic candidate said: "One weekend retreat does not solve your problems. It's about your long-term relations with donors and their belief in your political viability."

Indeed, Gore must battle the perception that if he runs, he would be a vulnerable front-runner in a hotly contested Democratic primary. "There is not the brand loyalty to Gore that there once was," said Larry J. Sabato, a University of Virginia political analyst. "It has faded dramatically."

For all his potential liabilities, some observers say Gore has the strongest shot at the Democratic nomination. "To take it away from him," said Charles Cook, a Washington, D.C., political analyst, "somebody's going to have to be very, very good."

The loyalists gathered here acknowledged their party is split. "My sense is, inside the [Washington] Beltway, the network there is more of the opinion 'Anybody but Gore,'" said Alvaro Cifuentes, chairman of the Hispanic Caucus of the Democratic National Committee. "But outside the Beltway, the sense is, 'If Gore wants it, we'll go with him.'"

Nick Anderson is a writer for the Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Publishing newspaper.