All of the "Will He or Won't He?" coverage of Al Gore today strikes me as silly--and I've been a part of it on TV. There's no opening for him in the race right now, even with a Nobel in hand. Could there be buyers' remorse a couple of months down the road, if people get sick of Hillary Clinton as the inevitable nominee? Sure, but by then the glow of the Nobel halo will have faded a bit. And it will fade further should Gore get in the race and have to endure the usual scrutiny and answer a million questions on a million topics other than climate change. Which is exactly why Gore, who knows all of this, is keeping his distance from the race. He wants to keep the focus on what he considers to be the most pressing challenge in human history.

You can bet he's not thinking about a presidential campaign today. He's savoring his sweet political vindication, though. He can't help but remember when President George H.W. Bush called him "Ozone Man" in 1992 and the Republicans called him radical on the environment in 2000. Life is strange. Seven years ago this December, when his popular vote victory failed to land him in the White House, Al Gore seemed like one of history's biggest losers. No more.