PITTSBURGH — Al Gore may be the luckiest man alive. And he may be working on the best obituary of his generation.
(BEGIN ITALICS)Why he's so lucky:(END ITALICS) Sure, he was defeated for the presidency in a contested, overtime election decided by the Supreme Court, even though he won the popular vote. But he avoided having to deal with Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden and others in the international basket of deplorables; he wasn't blamed for a historic economic downturn; and he didn't have to rebuild New Orleans after a destructive hurricane.
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