has the Gore endorsement of Dean story covered on his blog. For my part, I think it’s a key shoring-up element for Dean to distance himself from accusations that he’s still a fringe candidate notwithstanding his popularity. In terms of Gore’s motivations, it may seem naive to say so, but I think Gore has, in the post-2000 period, had a sort of a rebirth experience in which he has turned his back on the super-centrist “New Democrat” formulation that people like Lieberman still hold. I think his endorsement of Dean has a lot to do with him trying to point the way to a Democratic Party that isn’t radically leftist (which is impossible in the US anyhow) but is nevertheless distinguishable from moderate Republicanism.