Reply #24: Here is my opinion. . .

[wndycty]

. . .Al Gore was the last Democratic nominee for president and given the circumstances surrounding 2000 Al Gore would and should have been a very important surrogate for whomever the nominee would be. By endorsing Dean he hurt his effectiveness as a surrogate for the eventual nominee. This has nothing to do with an anti-Dean thought, it has more to do with what is good for the party. I was the biggest Wes Clark supporter there is but I knew a primary endorsement from Bill or Hillary, Gore, Jesse Sr., a certain others would not have been good for party unity and if Clark had not secured the nomination (which he did not) it would have damaged their credibility as it relates to their support of the nominee. Just the fact that we Dean has come up on this thread is a prime example.