BEGALA:   We are talking politics with two of the best political minds around -- Republic strategist Alejandro Castellanos, and Democratic strategist, Peter Fenn. And I can't really dress that up too much. 
CARLSON:   Now Peter Fenn, ... 
BEGALA:   Pietro! 
CASTELLANOS:   Well, maybe, ... 
CARLSON:   We were talking a minute ago about Jim Traficant. I want to switch gears here and talk about another disgraced Democrat we might not hear from in the near future. That, of course, is Al Gore. 
FENN:     the one that won that presidency by 550,000 votes. 
CARLSON:   Is that -- see now, ...    ... you and, like nine of your friends believe that. But let me ... 
FENN:   Well, a few more, a few more. 
BEGALA:   We would have got five votes on the Supreme Court. That's   ... 
CARLSON:   Well, all nine of them happen to be in the audience tonight. But I want to clue you into what some other Democrats are thinking. "USA Today" and Gallop did a poll on asking that very question, and here are the results. Amazing. Should Al Gore run again? Yes, 43 percent. No, 48 percent. Now, speak honestly here. The guy has universal name recognition. This is among Democrats. This is an appalling, dangerous showing, isn't it? Shouldn't he just get out right now? 
FENN:   Well, I think you'll find that there is a guy named Richard Nixon, who after 1962, a lot of folks thought he shouldn't run. He ended up president of the United States. 
CARLSON:   So Gore has Nixon as your defense?    You're   for Richard Nixon? 
FENN:   I'm talking about this shift in ... 
CARLSON:   You   ... 
FENN:   ... political. I'm talking about the shift ... 
CARLSON:   That is a different move, Peter. 
FENN:   ... in political ... 
CARLSON:   Oh, OK.    It's a metaphor. 
FENN:   I thought I'd pick someone you love. So, I thought I'd pick a kindred soul for you to make you feel better. The endpoint I want to make about this is, it is very, very early in this whole process. You know, he can sit back. He can relax, he can have a good time. He can go out and campaign for candidates all around this country. He can raise money for folks. 
CARLSON:   Remember what he did for Bill Bradley. Remember when he called Bill Bradley a racist? He was going to   ... 
BEGALA:   I want to talk about the guy who got fewer votes than Al Gore, and his name is George W. Bush. Because we both know, on September 11th -- on September 11th, he gained 30 popularity points, but not 30 IQ points. And that's why the Republican National Committee is preparing us. He was no better after nine months in office than he was on the day he stole the election, and you and I both know that popularity is actually Osama bin Laden's unpopularity. That's all it is, is we're saying we hate the terrorists ... 
CARLSON:   But that is ... 
BEGALA:   ... and so we will rally ...    ... you don't think it's real, do you? 
CARLSON:   That's an outrageous question. 
BEGALA:   You think it's real? 
CASTELLANOS:   I love your strategy for the next election, which is, you know, let's prove to America that George Bush is the wrong guy to have in the White House right now. I mean, 80 percent, 70 percent of the American people think that's -- if you keep trying to rerun the last election instead of looking ahead. But go right ahead. Look, Al Gore is robo-candidate. He's never done anything but run for president. There's nothing else he knows how to do, so of course he's going to run ... 
BEGALA:   Oh, so, because he didn't spend time ... 
CASTELLANOS:   ... but I'm sure you're hoping he's going to say ... 
BEGALA:   ...   House? 
CASTELLANOS:   ... like Richard Nixon, that won't have Al Gore to kick around any more. 
FENN:   ... as we roll ...    ... back environmental regulations, as we forget about superfund, as we ... 
CARLSON:   Are you going to give us the argument   again, Peter, come on. 
FENN:   ... as we give 48 hours to environmentalists to come in from the Department of Energy ... 
CARLSON:   Let me ask you ... 
FENN:   ... with some kind of plan, ...    ... then, and you're saying Al Gore has no substance? Al Gore has not done anything? 
CARLSON:   You know what he's very good at? And please answer this honestly -- he's very good at attacking people in debates. This is going to be a real --   -- real problem for Democrats if he gets into the primary and starts savaging ... 
FENN:   He just learned from you, Tucker ... 
CARLSON:   ... words and some of these other real candidates. 
FENN:   Look. 
CARLSON:   You're not worried? 
FENN:   No, I'm not worried one bit. I don't know whether he's going to run. I don't know, you know, what his plans are. I hope he does go out and campaign for candidates, because we're going to take the House, and we're going to increase our margin in the Senate. And Al Gore can help do that. So ... 
CASTELLANOS:   Here's how good Al Gore's political judgment is. He's going to a political convention where another speaker is Alec Baldwin, the man who said that President Bush being elected was worse than the terrorist attack on the World Trade center. Gore should say that Baldwin should be banned from the convention. Second thing is, ...    ... second thing ... 
CARLSON:   Sadly, we're going to have to end it on that very high note. Thank you, Alex.    Peter Fenn, thank you. Jerry Falwell wants to super-size his church, but an old Virginia law says no dice. Find out what he's done. Next, in our CROSSFIRE police blotter. Plus, our quote of the day. Here's hint number two. Maybe the only person in America who criticized Rudy Giuliani after September 11. This time she's setting her sights a little higher and a shade crazier. CROSSFIRE will be right back.
