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Dems Hope to Head Off Convention Feuding

Al Gore could play peacemaker

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 16, 2008 6:07 AM CST

(Newser) – Concerns about party unity are keeping Al Gore and other senior Democrats neutral in the Barack Obama/Hillary Clinton face-off—at least for now, the New York Times reports. Party elders are painfully aware that infighting or back-room dealing at the Democratic National Convention could look like the will of the people is being thwarted and sour the public on the whole party.

If the nomination comes down a battle over superdelegates, insiders say it could take an honest broker with gravitas to settle things. That duty might have fallen to a popular former president—but Bill Clinton is hardly neutral, so many eyes have turned to Al Gore. "He’s probably the only unaligned person with the kind of stature to step in to that role," says a Gore associate.

Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer, left, and committee member Debbie Dingell, right, walk away from a meeting of the Democratic National Committee Rules and Bylaws Committee after their case for moving up the Michigan primary to Jan. 15, 2008 was rejected. Michigan's delegates now won't count at the party...
Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer, left, and committee member Debbie Dingell, right, walk away from a meeting of the Democratic National Committee Rules and Bylaws Committee after their case...   (Associated Press)
In this file photo, Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., takes the microphone from former Vice President Walter Mondale, a Minnesota superdelegate,  after he introduced her at a rally at Augsburg College in Minneapolis Sunday, Feb. 3, 2008.  With presidential candidates Barack Obama and Clinton in a...
In this file photo, Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., takes the microphone from former Vice President Walter Mondale, a Minnesota superdelegate, after he introduced...   (Associated Press)
BOSTON, MA -- Former Vice President Al Gore speaks to the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. This time around, Democratic Party insiders say that Gore could be the man to broker a deal if the Clinton/Obama contest threatens to tear the party apart.
BOSTON, MA -- Former Vice President Al Gore speaks to the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. This time around, Democratic Party insiders say that Gore could be the man to broker...   (KRT Photos)
Supporter Belinda Mendoza listens as Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., speaks at a campaign stop at the McAllen Convention Center in McAllen, Texas, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Supporter Belinda Mendoza listens as Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., speaks at a campaign stop at the McAllen Convention Center in McAllen, Texas, Wednesday, Feb....   (Associated Press)
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., visits an overflow crowd outside the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, N.M., Friday, Feb. 1, 2008.(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., visits an overflow crowd outside the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, N.M., Friday, Feb. 1, 2008.(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)   (Associated Press)
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