Chris Cillizza And Shailagh Murray weigh the possibilities of who Al Gore will endorse in the ‘08 primaries. Some of the candidates began courting Al Gore many months ago…

Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Gore huddled in Nashville in December, and Gore has also met with former senator John Edwards (N.C.). Gore and Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.) conferred as recently as last week.

And, “not surprisingly,” Cillizza and Murray state, “Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) has not met with Gore. Neither has Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.) nor New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.”

The falling out between Gore and the Clintons has become the stuff of political legend. Then-Vice President Gore’s decision to distance himself from Bill Clinton in the 2000 presidential campaign did not sit well with the Clintons, who resented that Gore was willing to accept credit for the administration’s achievements while at the same time criticizing the president’s personal conduct.

For now it remains to be seen just who Gore will endorse. There’s a lot of speculation form Cillizza and Murray that may or may not have any merit. Al Gore is far more popular now that he was during the ‘04 primary season when he endorsed Howard Dean, only to have John Kerry jump in and swiftly take the nomination after wins in Iowa and NH.

And speaking of Kerry, he too has alluded in the past that he might also endorse a candidate during the primaries. Kerry’s been spotted dining with Obama, co-sponsored legislation with Clinton, the Chris Dodd campaign (via the Boston Globe) claimed that Kerry backed his energy plan, though my sources in Kerry’s office said “has not endorsed Dodd’s energy plan.”

With Gore’s increased popularity and public opinion moving in Kerry’s direction, it will be interesting to who they choose to endorse in the primaries, if they do at all.

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