You get odd, little emails every now and then when you’re in the blog business. When you work for “Playboy”, you get naked snapshots in your mailbox. When you publish a blog, you get letters from people who claim to have knowledge of the future. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the way it goes. Blogs are magnetic when it comes to certain things. It’s unfortunate, but I deal with it the best I can.

Usually, I don’t put much stock in notes of “I have an important message for the people of Earth” variety. I just got a note a week or so ago, however, that doesn’t seem to fit into the standard “crackpots,” “conspiracy theorists” and “time travelers” categories. This one came anonymously from a man who claimed to “know people.” He wanted to tell me that I shouldn’t give up hope on the prospect of a Gore campaign for presidency. He assured me that something was in the works. Was it a cruel trick – just someone hoping to get my hopes up only to have them dashed horribly later? I don’t know. The person who wrote the note, however, came across as both knowledgeable and sane.

On the face of it, it seems plausible enough. Gore could hang back for a while, let Hillary implode a bit, let Obabma wither some under the intense glare of public scrutiny, and then jump in a the last minute to offer a real alternative. My guess is that, at this point, it’s not just Al’s decision, though. Campaign finance laws would have to be taken into consideration, wouldn’t they? Obama and Hillary both have upward of $25 million in the bank right now, a great deal of which is earmarked for the Democratic primary. Could Gore possibly come into the game late and compete financially? Can he get a campaign up and running fast enough to bring in the kind of dollars that he’d need to combat the well-oiled machines of Clinton and Obama? And, even if he could, I’m not sure what the campaign finance laws stipulate when it comes to contributions toward the primary. Do they have to be in by a certain time, or can they keep on raising money right through to the end of the primary? Regardless, I suspect financing is a critical consideration.

I have this far-out scenario in my mind where Obama, realizing he doesn’t have the experience necessary to run the country, urges Gore to run with him as VP. I don’t know if it’s legal, but according to this scenario of mine, Obama would then transfer all of his funds into Gore’s account, and tour the country stumping for Gore in the primary, against Hillary. They’d be unstoppable. They’d roll right over Hillary and whatever poor sucker the Republicans decide to sacrifice.

So, this letter that I got has me dreaming. The logical part of my brain tells me not to believe, but I do. I believe that Gore will enter the race, win, and become our next president. He’ll serve for eight years, during which time, among other things, the hole in the ozone will disappear, global warming will cease, and democracy — real democracy — will spread through the world like the plague. Then, Obama will have the oval office for the next eight, solving those few problems still confronting mankind, like childhood obesity and ringworm… It’s nice to dream.

update: OK, I just received an update from the anonymous reader. He wants to know if I’ve seen that, in the past few days, both Bill Clinton and James Carville have indicated that a Gore run is still possible.