WASHINGTON - Former Vice President Al Gore, who narrowly lost the presidency to George W. Bush two years ago, made a surprise announcement last night that he won't seek a rematch in 2004.
Gore, who appeared to be gearing up to run, chose a network television interview show to disclose that he will not be a candidate for the Democratic nomination. He said he had "come to closure on this" after discussions with his family in New York over the past week.
"I personally have the energy and the drive and the ambition to make another campaign, but I don't think it's the right thing for me," Gore said on CBS' 60 Minutes.
In the interview, Gore alluded to the fact that many Democrats didn't want him to try again. He acknowledged that many in his party "felt exhausted" by his last campaign and "don't want to go through that again."
"I'm frankly sensitive to that feeling," he said.
"A rematch between myself and President Bush would inevitably focus on the past" rather than the future, which campaigns have to be about, he said.
Gore said he thought he could win in 2004, though he admitted that it is "unrealistic" to make such a prediction so far in advance.
He would have faced a tough fight for the nomination and an uncertain fate against Bush if he survived the primaries. However, he would have entered the Democratic contest as the presumed favorite, despite polls showing significant resistance inside the party to his prospective candidacy.
At 54, Gore is young enough to make another presidential try in 2008 but said he is not planning on it. He said he made his decision "in full awareness that it probably means I will never have another opportunity to run for president."
His decision leaves a wide-open field for the nomination. At least seven Democrats are running or seriously considering entering the race.
The most immediate beneficiary of Gore's decision will be his 2000 running mate, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut. For the past year, Lieberman has aggressively built the foundation of a presidential campaign organization but said he would not run if Gore did.
Gore said last night that Lieberman "will now run." An announcement about the senator's plans could come as early as today.
Recent polling showed that with Gore out of the race, Lieberman was the first choice of likely Democratic primary voters. However, those surveys, like ones that showed Gore in first place, often reflect little more than the degree to which the public is familiar with the candidate's name at this early stage.
Gore's decision might increase pressure on Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle to enter the race. The South Dakotan had been expected to announce his plans sometime next month, presumably so he could wait to see what Gore did.
Others running for the nomination, or who are expected to try, include Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina, Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont and the Rev. Al Sharpton.
Exhibited 'real courage'
Kerry said he respected Gore's "very difficult and personal decision" in a statement that praised Gore's "years of dedicated and exemplary public service." Dean said Gore had "exhibited some real courage in making the decision he did."
Some close Gore aides had predicted as long ago as the spring that he wouldn't run, but his announcement still came as a surprise.
Gore had said he wouldn't reveal his intentions until sometime after the holidays. In recent weeks, he had been behaving like a candidate, speaking out on national issues and waging an intense public-relations campaign that kept him in the public eye, while insisting that he had not made up his mind.
Yesterday, Gore told interviewer Lesley Stahl that he would like to help his party's nominee defeat Bush and that he planned "to explore a lot of other opportunities." He said he intended to remain actively involved in politics.
In the 2000 election, Gore won the popular vote by almost 540,000 votes. But he lost the presidency because he fell 537 votes short of receiving Florida's electoral votes.
Many Democrats believed - and still do - that Gore should have easily defeated Bush because the nation was at peace and the economy was strong.
After a 36-day post-election vote count in Florida, Gore withdrew from the spotlight for much of last year. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks came just as he was resurfacing.
Acting like a candidate
Gore was less active than some other Democratic presidential hopefuls during the recent midterm campaign this year. He also had raised less money than others and done little to organize another presidential drive.
Still, he demonstrated that he remained a figure to contend with in the party. In late September, he became the first senior Democrat to criticize the administration's policy on Iraq, giving voice to the concerns of many grass-roots Democrats and attracting national attention.
He launched a public-relations blitz last month, ostensibly to promote his new book written with his wife, Tipper. But the book tour had all the trappings of a testing-the-waters campaign, including media interviews and a turn as a guest host on Saturday Night Live.
During that appearance, only hours before announcing his decision, Gore mocked his presidential ambitions and delivered a scathing impersonation of embattled Senate Republican leader Trent Lott of Mississippi.
Even as Gore considered his options, a steady stream of surveys showed that many in his party were ready for a change. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released last week found that 48 percent of Democrats wanted Gore to run again, while 42 percent wanted him to step aside.
Perhaps even more discouraging for Gore, national polls indicate that he is viewed more negatively than positively by the public. Only 31 percent of Americans in the recent NBC/Journal poll said they had positive feelings about the former vice president, compared with twice that much for Bush.
Polls testing a possible Bush-Gore rematch showed the president - whose popularity was enhanced by his leadership after the terrorist attacks - winning easily.
In the interview last night, Gore pointed out that Bush's father had enjoyed record-high poll ratings after the Persian Gulf war in 1991 but failed to win re-election the next year. Gore said he didn't know which Democrat would have the best chance against Bush, but he said the party needs to keep "an unrelenting focus on the economy."
Gore seemed to indicate that he had surprised himself by his decision not to run. "There was a big part of me that sort of assumed that [running is] what I would do this time around," he said.
He said that both times he faced the decision of running for president, in 1988 and 2000, "I have decided to jump in." He apparently forgot that he decided not to run in 1992 - and then found himself on the ticket when Bill Clinton chose him to be his running mate.
Reaction
"We all owe Al enormous gratitude for years of dedicated and exemplary public service and for his significant contributions to our party and country. I know that he is going to continue to speak out and be involved on the issues that make a difference to Democrats and all Americans." - Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, who has formed a committee to explore a presidential bid.
"Al Gore was the best vice president America ever had. He would have been a fine president had history taken a different course two years ago." - Former President Clinton.
"It takes an awfully big person to look deep inside one's self and see that this is not their time. Al Gore, by putting his country and party before himself, has displayed a unique courage." - Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
"I think it opens the field. ... Everybody has a chance and that's an exciting time for us as Democrats." - Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.