I hope we don't nominate a senator

[Recursion]

Sitting senators rarely win POTUS races. Consider the previous job descriptions of the 42 POTI (I'm not counting VP when a VP took over for a dead or resigned POTUS; I'm using their last job before they were elected VP):

Washington: President of the Constitutional Convention
Adams: Vice President
TJ: Vice President
Madison: Secretary of State
Monroe: Secretary of State
JQA: Secretary of State
Jackson: Senator
Van Buren: Vice President
WH Harrison: Retired (job before retirement was ambassador)
Tyler (elected as VP): Senator (also later became the only POTUS to serve in the CSA government)
Polk: Democratic party activist (last gov't job was Governor of TN)
Taylor: General
Fillmore (elected as VP): Comptroller of NY
Pierce: General
Buchanan: Ambassador
Lincoln: Lawyer (last gov't job was Representative)
A. Johnson (elected as VP): Military Governor of TN
Grant: General
Hayes: Governor of OH
Garfield: Representative
Arthur (elected as VP): Lawyer (no previous gov't job)
Cleveland: Governor of New York (second election: ex-President)
Benjamin Harrison: Lawyer (last gov't job was Senator)
McKinley: Governor of OH
TR (elected as VP): Governor of NY
Taft: Secretary of War
Wilson: Governor of NJ
Harding: Senator
Coolidge (elected as VP): Governor of MA
Hoover: Secretary of Commerce
FDR: Governor of NY
Truman (elected as VP): Senator
Ike: General
JFK: Senator
LBJ (elected as VP): Senator
Tricky Dick: Author and lecturer (last gov't job was VP)
Ford (never elected as POTUS or VP): Representative
Carter: Governor of GA
Reagan: GE spokesman (last gov't job was Governor of CA)
Poppy: VP
Big Dog: Governor of AR
*: Governor of TX

Now, let's look at the major losing candidate(s) of each election (starting with 1804 because of the 12th amendment, and excluding former or later POTI):
Thomas Pinckney: State Senator in SC
George Clinton: VP
Dewitt Clinton: Lt. Gov. of NY
Rufus King: Senator
Henry Clay: Speaker of the House
Lewis Cass: Governor of MI
John Fremont: Colonel
Winfield Scott: General
John C. Breckenridge: VP
George McClelland: General
Horatio Seymour: Governor of NY
Horace Greeley: Newspaper Editor
Samuel J. Tilden: State Senator in NY
Winfield Hancock: General
William Jennings Bryan: Democratic party activist
Alton Parker: Judge
Charles Evans Hughes: SCOTUS Justice
James Cox: Governor of OH
John W. Davis: Ambassador
Alfred E. Smith: Governor of NY
Alfred M. Landon: Governor of KS
Wendell Wilkie: Lawyer (no public office ever)
Thomas Dewey: Governor of NY
Adlai Stevenson: Governor of IL
AuH20: Senator
Hubert Humphrey: VP
George McGovern: Senator from SD
Walter Mondale: Lawyer (last gov't job: VP)
Michael Dukakis: Governor of MA
Bob Dole: Senator
Al Gore: VP
John Kerry: Senator

So, what do we see from this? Well, first

VP: 4 and 4 -- even record.
Senator: 2 and 4 -- (5 and 4 if you count elected as VP)
Governor: 8 and 8 -- even record, but governors run more than VPs or Senators
Lawyer:
Cabinet Secretary: 4 and 0 -- only one has run since the end of the 1st Party System, and he was 100 years ago
Military Officer: 4 and 4

So, from what I can tell of this data, a governor probably will run, and if he does, he has an even chance of winning. We don't have a sitting VP, but we have a former VP. If a governor doesn't run, he probably will, and he also has an even chance of winning. We also have a military officer, who is statistically as likely to run as Gore; he has the same statistical chance of winning (according to this data) as Gore. Senators come next on likelihood of running, that's either Hillary or Bayh, Senators are twice as likely to lose as they are to win when the run for President. Finally, no cabinet secretary has ever yet lost a Presidential election: do we have one we like?

[AJ9000]

1. I do too. Esp Clinton, or Obama. If so, say hello to John Mcain.

Clark, Gore or a Dem gov from somewhere could do the trick though.

[Cascadian]

2. I really feel Al Gore should run again.

This time he would be a very formidable candidate and I think he would be more assertive than he was in 2000. He won't have to answer to the DLC masters anymore.


John

[lvx35]

3. My respect for him has gone for the roof.

I just think he's an amazing person. I think the world would be a better place if he tried.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

4. The world is a better place already because of Al Gore

His work on the environment has been tremendous, and I have no doubt he is already having an enormous influence.

I will enthusiastically campaign for him if he runs, but I want to recognize that even without being president, he has done more good for the world -- even just by planting that ever-important seed in young people like my son --- than anyone in the Bush family ever has.

President Gore would be a wonderful thing, but I totally respect him if he chooses not to run (and put himself through that again) -- and I fully expect him to continue to be an extremely important figure in the environmental (and anti-war, and anti-corruption) movement.

[lvx35]

5. That's true...

And its also true that Gore became much greater after he gave up political ambitions to fight for what he really believes. It might just be that outside of politics is where his destiny, or path of greatest effectiveness lies. :shrug: