Can Al Gore ever escape him? No, I don’t mean Bill Clinton; I’m talkingabout Ralph Nader. In 2000, the Nader vote was the margin of victory inFlorida, and thus, a Gore presidency, and therefore an alternativereality much less grim than the one we now face. But that is the past.In the present, they are at it again.

Gore’s global warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, has been atriumph for the issue itself and Gore’s reputation. It has beenshort-listed for the Oscar’s documentary category, as it should be. Butwait, there’s more. Also on the short list is a dark horse candidate, An Unreasonable Man, a documentaryabout the political life of (natch) Ralph Nader.

So here we are six years later faced with the potential of another Gorev. Nader race. Will Nader siphon off enough votes to cost Gore yetanother victory? Given the makeup ofthe 5,830 Academy voters, largely older and significantly Jewish, willFlorida be the deciding battleground?

This is crucial because many believe Gore’s Oscar campaign–Lenoand Oprah already–may be the first primary in his 2008 presidentialrun.

What terrible irony if Nader cost him the win once again.