Gore Ends His Political Sabbatical but Is Mum on Plans for 2004

Although each is perhaps best known for twice failing to win the presidency, former Vice President Al Gore and former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander tried Saturday at a bipartisan workshop to persuade young adults to get involved in politics.

The daylong invitation-only event at Vanderbilt University was Gore’s first appearance at a public political event since he conceded the 2000 presidential election to George W. Bush.

Some political analysts said Gore’s involvement suggests he is “testing the waters” for another presidential run. A recent CNN-Gallup poll found Gore leading a list of potential nominees for 2004.

Gore wasn’t saying, but this week he is leading a weeklong “summer camp” for young Democratic activists, also in Nashville.

And Saturday he promised he would be involved in 2002 elections in Tennessee, where he vowed to mend fences after losing his home state last year.

“We’re keeping the focus on young people,” Gore said when asked about the 2004 race as he and Alexander, a Republican who was Education secretary under President Reagan, walked by reporters on their way to lunch with the 100 young Democrats and Republicans--some still in college, others seasoned campaign workers in their 30s.

“We wanted to do this thing together to inspire these young people of both parties to be more involved and more active,” said the former vice president, who won his first race, for Congress, at age 28.

Alexander told Associated Press when he arrived that the event was meant to “help young people learn political skills but to be more than political warriors--to practice politics with civility and respect for others.”

In addition to Gore and Alexander, the panels on issues ranging from grass-roots organizing to political advertising featured political heavyweights including former Gore campaign manager Donna Brazile and strategist Carter Eskew, and Sen. John McCain’s former advisor Mike Murphy, who is now working for the president’s brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

John Geer, a Vanderbilt political science professor who specializes in presidential politics, said Gore’s involvement in the two events may signal that he is “testing the waters to see how receptive the Democratic Party is to another Gore presidential campaign.”

But Brazile and Eskew said Gore has long been interested in involving more young people in politics.

Murphy said that if Gore really were trying to crank up his political machine, “he’d be giving this speech in New Hampshire.”

Eskew said Gore and Alexander “disagree on most issues politically but have remained good friends for years, proving you can be political adversaries but still compromise and do business.”

Gore and Alexander have both written books and plan to return to college campuses to teach this fall.

On Saturday, using a town hall format, Gore and Alexander led sessions ranging from grass-roots organizing to political advertising.

Frederick Willis, 22, a recent college graduate and Gore campaign volunteer, said the information would help prepare him for a future political race. “They’re grooming us.”