IF AL GORE can pull himself away from saving the planet long enough, he might want to consider rescuing the Demo cratic Party from the clutches of utter self-destruction.
Campaigning against an unpopular war in Iraq, a sputtering economy and a disappearing dollar, Democrats cannot lose in November.
But wait! They’re Democrats!
“The only reason we ever lose is when we beat ourselves,” one nervous Democrat grumbled yesterday as the primary dogfight dragged on.
Hillary Rodham Clinton has made it clear she won’t quit and no one expects Barack Obama to exit – and so on to the Denver party convention they go, viciously attacking one another all the way.
Forget the red phone for a national-security crisis. Where is the red phone for a political party trying to destroy itself?
And where is the party leader with the respect, stature, wisdom and influence to answer the crisis phone?
Former President Bill Clinton has a slight conflict of interest, not to mention that his wife’s campaign now has him sequestered in a secure, undisclosed location until the election is over.
Virtually powerless Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is a screaming castrato still regarded suspiciously by the party establishment.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who won her post promising the end the war in Iraq? Still waiting for that to happen.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is in a political pickle.
His top two lieutenants – Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin – are not just split on this matter. They are Clinton’s and Obama’s loyal seat mates in the Senate and top campaign supporters on each side. Schumer’s for Hillary, Durbin for Obama.
Living together as the Odd Couple in a house on Capitol Hill doesn’t ease tensions between Schumer and Durbin, aides say.
If Reid picks one candidate over the other, his leadership team collapses and sets off a terrible power struggle in the Senate.
That leaves Al Gore as the only person with the experience to answer the red phone and force a peaceful end to this civil war.
The inconvenient truth is that the red phone is now ringing and Al Gore hears it. The only question is whether he has the guts to pick it up.
churt@nypost.com