Below The Beltway

Two weeks after the race for the Democratic nomination ended, former Vice-President Al Gore finally stepped up and endorsed Barack Obama last night:

DETROIT — Former Vice President Al Gore made his debut appearance in the presidential campaign here Monday evening, offering a vigorous endorsement of Senator Barack Obama and urging Democrats to keep in mind the consequences of not taking the general election with grave seriousness.

“Looking back over the last eight years, I can tell you that we have already learned one important fact since the year 2000,” Mr. Gore said. “Take it from me, elections matter. If you think the next appointments to the Supreme Court are important, you know that elections matter.”

Mr. Gore and Mr. Obama strode onto the stage arm in arm to thundering applause from a crowd of nearly 20,000 people at a downtown arena. As Mr. Gore ticked through a long list of challenges facing the nation, he hailed Mr. Obama as “clearly the candidate best able to solve these problems and bring change to America.”

As Joe Gandelman points out, though, Gore’s late endorsement reveals much about the man himself:

Gore, who enjoyed a status far more lofty and impartial than his former boss Bill Clinton who in campaign 2008 had seemingly morphed into a political machine ward heeler, stayed out of the fray.

What’s wrong with that? This: Gore had been perceived as a party leader. A big gun. Someone who could take a stand when it mattered.

His endorsement tonight was akin to someone who enters a boxing ring after the bout and after the ring has cleared and starts cheering for one of the fighters when no one is left in the ring.

And this a guy who could have ended the Democratic race in April if he wanted to. The fact that he stood on the sidelines and said nothing shows the absurdity in calling Al Gore a “leader.”