In March, CNN’s Bill Schneider also emphasized Gore’s lefty appeal, saying, “there’s a part for the left alternative to Hillary” since “many Hollywood liberals and online activists consider Hillary Clinton too moderate” and “want a more outspoken choice like Senator Russ Feingold or maybe Al Gore.” In April, the (London) Guardian described Gore as “the conscience of the Democratic Left — the anti-Hillary figure speaking out in anger against the war in Iraq and domestic wiretapping.”

Reporters who can’t locate the ideal “Un-Hillary” might consider building their own fantasy version. In June 2005, the Economist (in a story headlined “The Un-Hillary”) identified “two potential un-Hillaries” in Mark Warner (“the most interesting un-Hillary”) and Sen. Joe Biden. The reporter went on to offer this assessment: “If Messrs Warner and Biden were rolled into one, they would make a formidable rival to Hillary even at the top of her game” but “[s]ince that, alas, is impossible, they will have to wait for her to stumble” — and, the Economist warned Economist-esquely, “There is many a slip ‘twixt cup and lip.”

And there is many a month ‘twixt now and presidential primary season. How many more “Un-Hillaries” will journalists identify (and for what reasons) between now and when candidates actually begin to announce their intentions? How many “Un-Bushes”?

It’s going to be a long slog.

Is there any way we could get some “un-journalists” to cover the ‘08 election?

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