Mark Tomasik: Don't discount Gore-led ticket
U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney, whose district includes much of Martin and St. Lucie counties, is hoping he won't have to attend the Democratic Party national convention in Denver in August.Now I don't know if Gore is the guy - he's got some baggage of his own, and I certainly can't imagine a Gore/Clinton ticket. I don't know how the Clinton and Obama supporters would react - would it unify or further divide?
If he does go, that will mean the Democrats still haven't decided a nominee for the presidential election. And if neither Sen. Hillary Clinton nor Sen. Barack Obama has clinched the nomination by August, Mahoney says we may see a brokered convention, meaning the nominee could emerge from a negotiated settlement.
"If it (the nomination process) goes into the convention, don't be surprised if someone different is at the top of the ticket," Mahoney said.
A compromise candidate could be someone such as former vice president Al Gore, Mahoney said last week during a meeting with this news organization's editorial board.
If either Clinton or Obama suggested to a deadlocked convention a ticket of Gore-Clinton or Gore-Obama, the Democratic Party would accept it, Mahoney said.