No doubt, but there other anti-McAuliffe candidates who are generally believed to be electable in a national election...something Dean isn't. Seems to me that Gore couldn't resist the temptation and will in fact play right into the Clinton's hands if Dean in the general election.
I think the best ticket they could put forward would be Gephardt/Lieberman. But these guys aren't attracting bucks from the big donors or the knee-jerk Bush Haters.
Dean isn't electable but he is the only one who is, uh, nominable.
Recall that Gore has already long since thrown in with the loony left, like Dean. Hillary's newfound hawkishness stakes out ground in the center. Al Gore is clever enough to know Dean won't win in 2004.
But here's one more wrinkle. Pundits have been talking about a possible Goldwater effect that Dean may recreate on the left. Dem Activists are just uninterested in centrism. But enough anger turns into a movement with legs. Gore wants to ride that wave. Like Goldwater, Dean will fade with his bona fides dangling in the moonlight.