"but he is the best we've got."
It depends on what you mean by that. I suspect that if Gore had one in 2000, we'd have neither of the above today.
He was the better of the two major choices in the 2000 GOP primary, and the better of the two major choices in the 2000 and 2004 election. Not the best there is, but the best we've got.
Our biggest problem is the choices we've been offered. When there is no serious competition, in anything, it allows you to get lazy or sloppy or both.
no one can gainsay your name is undeserved. brevity is the soul of wit. touche.