Former staffers: 7-to-5 Gore won't run
 Ex-staffers to former Vice President Al Gore recently held "an informal reunion" Friday, a Capitol Hill newspaper reports.
"Amid the catching up and reminiscing, the dozen Gore alums lunching at downtown eatery Acadiana decided to have a little fun with numbers," Emily Heil writes for Roll Call's "Heard on the Hill." "Seven said they thought Gore wouldn’t leap into the 2008 presidential race, while five speculated that he would, one of the lunchers spilled to HOH."
Heil adds, "Clearly, Gore is keeping the decision close to his (eco-friendly, we’re sure) vest. Attendees included Chris Ulrich with the Japanese embassy, Matt Bennett with Third Way, Thurgood Marshall Jr. of Bingham McCutchen LLP, Jeff Nussbaum with West Wing Writers, freelance speechwriter Eric Schnure, David Thomas of Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti, and Joel Velasco of Stonebridge International."
"Results aside, HOH couldn’t help but think that only a group of true-blue political geeks would think to entertain themselves with straw polling. And did no one demand a recount?" the Roll Call article continues.
Over the weekend, a British newspaper claimed that "friends of Al Gore have secretly started assembling a campaign team in preparation for the former American vice-president to make a fresh bid for the White House."
"I was asked whether I would be available towards the end of the year if I am needed," one strategist told The Telegraph. "They know he has not ruled out running and if he decides to jump in, he will have to move very fast. He hasn't asked them to do this, but nor has he told them not to.
However, a spokesperson for Gore denied the report to TPM Cafe's Greg Sargent, stating "There is not a secret campaign operation in Nashville or any other part of the country to mobilize a campaign...other than that which the former Vice President has stated, to mobilize the American people to address the climate crisis."
Another former adviser told Sargent that The Telegraph's report was "pure fantasy."
In the last few days, both former President Bill Clinton and political strategist James Carville have speculated that Gore would end up entering the crowded field.
On Thursday, Clinton told Larry King on CNN, "You have got the prospect that Vice President Gore might run," and Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr refers to a speech Carville gave at Tulane University in New Orleans earlier this week: "Al Gore will run, he said, citing George Will’s observation that running for president is like sex: 'You don’t do it once and forget about it.'"
(Editor's Note: Due to an editing mistake, the odds were reversed in the headline for this article at first publication)
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