Gore Could Give Dems a Run for Their Money

Now, as the country heads toward a crucial election, Gore is back on the national stage. As a candidate, he could match Clinton's claim to experience given his military service in Vietnam, his time in Congress and his eight years in the executive branch as vice president. He could also rival Obama's claim to sound judgment, given his own outspoken opposition to the ill-fated invasion of Iraq.

But as a latecomer to the fund-raising game, could he keep pace with the massive war chests being amassed by the current Democratic front-runners?

"Mr. Gore is not a candidate or potential candidate, therefore he has no fund-raising activities," says Gore's spokeswoman, Kalee Kreider.

Clinton's campaign said Thursday it expects to have raised $27 million in the second quarter of 2007, which ends on Saturday. That tops her record-setting haul of $26 million in the first quarter, and her campaign said it expects Obama's results for the recent period to be even higher.

"The amounts that are currently being raised by candidates at this point in the season are unprecedented in history, so it's hard to say whether Gore could be competitive now if he started from scratch," says Douglas Weber, a researcher with the Center For Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan organization that tracks money and influence in U.S. politics.

"That said, it's still early," he adds. "We have more than six months to go before the primaries start, and the candidates are showing that they can raise large amounts of money very fast. Gore has obvious connections in the Democratic Party, he's a recognizable figure to the public and he has been very successful personally, so he might be able to finance his own campaign."

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