The 2016 presidential election is starting to look like political Nick at Night.
Well, you know, if you replaced wistful nostalgia with a resigned shrug followed by an embrace of what's familiar.
There's a Clinton, a Bush, a Trump, possibly a Biden and now, maybe, a Gore.
A handful of news outlets have reported that those close to former Vice President Al Gore say he's considering a presidential run. The Democrat would join Hillary Clinton (under whose husband, of course, he served) and Sen. Bernie Sanders in the run for the nomination, as well as the lesser-known Lincoln Chafee, Martin O'Malley and Jim Webb.
Ol' Joe Biden is also reportedly weighing a run.
So let's do a little extrapolatin' here.
Having Gore in the running with Jeb Bush — who has descent prospects for the GOP nomination — means the 2016 election could turn out to be Bush v. Gore, which gives us the willies.
Since Gore "lost" the presidency to George W. Bush in 2000 because of Florida, he has built up cred among progressives for his activism on the environment, most visibly through his 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth, which put climate change in terms everyone should be able to understand (not to say everyone would).
As for which Democrat leads among the party's voters, that sort of depends on whom you ask and upon which answer you fancy hearing. Like Clinton? Check out this one. Sanders fan? Reassure yourself with this one. Or if you're hoping Uncle Joe throws his hat in, pack this in your pipe.
But in any case, time is running out for Gore, Biden and whoever else would like to lead the free world, though, as presidential primaries will start up in just months, and they've got a lot of glad-handing to do if they want people to remember who they are.
This article appears in Aug 13-19, 2015.