Needlenose

It’s becoming a staple of the early days of any Democratic presidential campaign. Every eight years or so, some long-forgotten former candidate feels the itch for a comeback after a decade or more away from the national stage… and decides that America, once again, needs his leadership.

In 1984, it was George McGovern. In 1992, it was Jerry Brown. In 2004, apparently, it’s Gary Hart‘s turn.

An awkward realization, as Gary Hart remembers he left his “new ideas” in his other jacket.

These blast-from-the-past candidates always choose the same market niche, politically speaking. Renouncing the careful compromises and hedged stands of mainstream contenders, they position themselves as their party’s conscience, speaking truths that no one else dares. And so it is that Hart, who ran as a moderate pragmatist in the 1980s, is now speaking out firmly against the war in Iraq and George Bush’s reward-the-rich tax cuts. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that!)

Does he expect to win? Of course not. This script is already written: Hart will garner occasional media attention and the fervent support of some token college students hoping to find their generation’s Eugene McCarthy, finish in fifth place in the New Hampshire primary (as Brown and McGovern did), and go home — happy to have drummed up some future income from speaking engagements, perhaps a book, and any other rewards that come from recasting his image from hapless also-ran to principled elder statesman. Meanwhile, somewhere in Massachusetts, Michael Dukakis is looking ahead to 2008 and musing about the possibilities…

Everyone’s asking about who this helps in terms of winning the nomination.

My question is whether Gore plans to use his non-candidate status to help win the election. Since he’s not running, he can attack Bush bluntly and loudly without being accused of just wanting George Jr.’s job. He becomes a de facto “elder statesman,” able to say things that actual candidates wouldn’t for fear of repercussions.

He’s got a limited window of opportunity, since as a non-candidate he’ll soon be ignored by the mass media as irrelevant (i.e., there’s no “news hook” to attach to his comments). But he’s got a chance to do the country some good by telling the truth that needs to be told, and his party some good by making it publicly acceptable to criticize Big Brother. So he needs to start taking Bush to the woodshed in public, the sooner the better.

(Incidentally, Joshua Micah Marshall of Talking Points Memo wrote Gore’s obituary three weeks ago.)