Posted on 11/16/2002 12:22:04 AM PST by kattracks
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Vice President Al Gore has not yet decided whether to run for president again in 2004, and admitted he could have done better in the 2000 campaign.
"The needle is straight up in the air," Gore said in an interview with ABC's "20/20" television show on Friday night -- meaning he could lean either way in deciding whether to run.
Gore said he accepted responsibility for his 2000 loss.
"I have to take some responsibility for that myself. I think I could have been a better candidate," Gore said. "I think I could have communicated much better, more clearly and forcefully."
In the interview, among his first since losing the 2000 election, Gore said he was "absolutely" certain he was going to win after the Florida Supreme Court ordered a recount of the state's disputed ballots.
He was shocked, he said, by the 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that stopped the recount and ended his campaign.
Gore, who also appeared on Friday on David Letterman's CBS "Late Show," has said he will decide by the end of the year whether he will make another presidential run in 2004.
Gore said he had not ruled out any possible vice presidential candidates if he did run again, including his 2000 running mate, Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, now a senator for New York.
Lieberman is considering his own run for the presidency but has said he will not challenge Gore if he runs again. Gore said Lieberman has never said that to him and "if he wants to change that, that's his prerogative."
Gore, who won the 2000 popular vote but lost the electoral tally to President George W. Bush, said of the U.S. Supreme Court verdict, "I just did not think that decision would come."
Asked if he felt cheated, Gore said, "It's kind of like a sporting event, where the referee makes a crucial call and the instant replay doesn't govern and you disagree with the call, but you have agreed to play by the rules of the game.
"I'm not saying it was easy for me emotionally. It wasn't easy," he added. "My attitude was that you win some, you lose some, and then there's that little known third category ... You flip a coin and it lands on its edge."
Gore said he was hurt by the debates with Bush and he wished he had not sighed so audibly during the first debate, but "I was exasperated by some of the things, a lot of the things, he was saying."
But it was not a mistake that he did not have former President Bill Clinton campaign with him, he said.
"I felt that I had to sell myself," Gore said, adding the two were "comrades in arms" and he might welcome Clinton's help in a 2004 campaign.
The interviews kick off a four-week tour by Gore and his wife, Tipper, to promote two new books on the American family. Gore has scheduled a series of interviews and public appearances during the tour, with a decision on a White House run expected after that.
I really don't want to hear about Al's sex life.
But he wasn't, cause he ISN'T!
OK, who read this and immediately thought of the Rolling Stone cover?
Al, it's been two years. Run again if you want...or not. But for the love of God, let it go. You lost.
Bush just looked him down and sent him back in the corner.
The dems don't want him and will go for Kerry or Edwards. The guy is not sure of his own sex!
10. Hardly gets any pleasure participating in his family's staged football games
9. Now goes to Buddhist temples for illegal donations and spiritual guidance
8. Composed novelty song "Bush's States Are Red, And I'm Feeling Blue"
7. During strategy meetings grabs Warren Christopher, sobs "Hold me"
6. Was recently seen passionately kissing the inventor of Prozac
5. Mr. Environment spends his days tossing rusty car batteries into Potomac River
4. Asks George W. Bush if he can borrow old Sparky for the weekend
3. At recent Joe Lieberman speech on religion shouted, "Okay, you're Jewish! We get it!"
2. Just ask Tipper -- lately, the guy's anything but stiff
1. Won't crack a smile, no matter how many lap dances President Clinton buys him
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