Sixth, there is a sense among Democrats that Hillary cannot win a general election. Her six years in the Senate have not removed the indelible impression of her eight White House years, when Americans concluded she was too polarizing and divisive a figure to lead the nation. That sentiment surfaces in every poll.
One of the reasons Gore lost in 2000, though he had a plurality of the votes, is that many Americans felt the eight-year soap opera had just gone on for too long. It had to be canceled.
A Hillary nomination run would revive all that. And while the leaks about her wanting to take Harry Reid's job rather than George Bush's seem to have been planted and malicious, the question has surely crossed her mind as to whether a nomination run would be worth it, and whether her defeat would be inevitable, even if nominated.
The advantages Hillary would have in the primaries are that she holds out the promise of being the first woman president and no one will raise more money.
If Gore wants to be president, however, this is surely his last chance, and he would have to begin to pull his old team together, many of whom have moved on, and to court state leaders, many of whom have already begun to commit to other candidates.
Hillary has the option of waiting much longer to decide when and whether to get in. Gore must decide soon after November.
When Gore said in Australia he did not rule out running, he was careful to add, "but I don't expect to." Which is understandable. Gore has a good life, fame and fortune, and the possibility of being called to serve in high office in any future Democratic administration.
But he can also see -- indeed the numbers says so -- that there is a path to the nomination, and the presidency, narrow though it may be, that has opened up for him. And it will be open for only a few months before it closes again, forever.
Al vs. Hillary. The Gores demanding that the Clintons, who once put them a heartbeat away from the presidency, stand aside, because it is Al's turn, not Hillary's. How would Bill and Hillary deal with that?