Al Gore's (Latest) Media Moment

Al Gore is no stranger to the ups and downs of a presidential campaign. And now he's going through it all once again – even though he's (presumably) not running for office.

Gore is having quite a week – an Oscar win for his film, fawning praise from Hollywood stars, fantastic press. The Washington Post claimed on its front page that Gore may be "America's Coolest Ex-Vice President Ever," while Andrea Mitchell and Meredith Vieira also called the rather stiff ex-veep "cool" on "Today." Political observers are now speculating that Gore may harness his momentum for an '08 bid. "Former Vice President Al Gore's triumph at the Oscars is already stoking activists' pleas for him to make a dramatic late entry into the fractious presidential race," noted Mike Allen.

The "Evening News" got into the act last night too. "Now that Al Gore's documentary on global warming won an Oscar, a lot of people are wondering if he'll use it as a springboard for another presidential run," said Katie Couric. Gloria Borger discussed how "he's not just another defeated presidential candidate. He's an Oscar-winning environmental evangelist." Over on ABC, meanwhile, Charles Gibson trumpeted "Gore's Moment" "following his star turn at the Academy Awards."

All that buzz presumably has Republicans worried. Enter The Tennessee Center for Policy Research, "an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan research organization dedicated to providing concerned citizens, the media and public leaders with expert empirical research and timely free market policy solutions to public policy issues in Tennessee." The group put out a release noting that Gore's home "consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year."

Matt Drudge gave the story huge play, and conservative blogs gleefully dismissed Gore as a hypocrite.

"George Bush lives environmentalism whereas Al Gore only gives it lip service, yet he's is hailed as God's greatest gift to the environment," wrote blogger Kim Priestap. She was but one of many conservatives jumping on the story. (Gore's office has responded to the charge, saying the Gore family has "taken numerous steps to reduce the carbon footprint of their private residence" and has puchrased carbon offsets "to offset the family’s carbon footprint.")

Gore has faced his share of criticism, legitimate and otherwise – remember the "invented the Internet" stuff? The events of the last few days have surely reminded him of the media wringer that comes with a presidential campaign. It's got to be a lot more fun to bask in praise from Leonardo DiCaprio than put oneself smack in the middle of the impending political storm.