Gore Could Give Dems a Run for Their Money

While senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will be busy spinning their second-quarter fund-raising results next week as they vie for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination for 2008, former Vice President Al Gore will be rocking out at the Live Earth concert at Giants Stadium in New Jersey.

The difference highlights Gore's focus not on the presidency, but instead on his campaign to promote awareness of the threats posed by global warming.

Yet somehow he has a lead in the polls in an early primary state where U.S. presidential aspirations live free or die: New Hampshire.

The latest New Hampshire presidential poll conducted by WHDH-TV and Suffolk University shows that local Democrats in the Granite State prefer Gore to any of the candidates who are actually running.

When Gore is excluded from the poll, Clinton has a solid lead over her rivals, with support from 37% of respondents, but when he is added to the mix, she loses a quarter of her support and the Oscar-winning environmental crusader wins a majority, with 32% support.

Gore is no stranger to winning majorities. Back in 2000, he won the popular vote in the national presidential election, but President Bush laid claim to the White House thanks to the electoral college tally after controversial vote recount in Florida ended with a 5-4 Supreme Court decision in his favor.