"It's been unusual," is the subtle jab that former Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore took at the angst between Hillary and Bernie. As CNN reports, the inconvenient truth-seeker declined to endorse either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, decrying the tone of the 2016 campaign but alluding only to "signals" that he's received soliciting his support.
Gore spoke with NBC's "Today" on Monday to mark the tenth anniversary of the release of "An Inconvenient Truth," the climate change documentary that Gore made central to his political advocacy, after he failing to become president in 2000. As CNN details,
The conversation included the upcoming election, and Gore -- who served as vice president to Clinton's husband -- wouldn't pick a side.
"Has either Democrat sought your endorsement yet?" NBC's Anne Thompson asked.
"I've gotten signals that you can interpret that way," Gore said, but did not expand on who had reached out to him or his preference this primary, in the clip aired on NBC.
Gore's withholding of his endorsement comes as many Democratic leaders fret about unifying the party, with the fractious primary contest between Sanders and Clinton extending into the summer while likely GOP nominee Donald Trump works to consolidate Republican support.
The 2000 Democratic presidential nominee also criticized the tone of the 2016 race, saying, "I'm one of millions who sometimes just -- I do a double take. 'Whoa, what was that?'"
"It's been unusual," he added.
Unusual indeed... or is a Biden-Gore ticket coming? As NBCNews notes, just 66% of Democratic primary voters preferring Sanders support Clinton in a matchup against Trump (compared with 88% of Clinton primary voters who favor Sanders in a hypothetical general-election contest).
What's more, Clinton's fav/unfav rating among Democratic voters supporting Sanders is 38% positive, 41% negative (-3); Sanders' rating among Clinton supporters is 54% positive, 23% negative (+31).
So this is Clinton's challenge: Can she win over Sanders' supporters in what has become an increasingly asymmetric Democratic contest -- with Clinton supporters liking Sanders, but with Sanders supporters disliking Clinton? It could be the difference between Democrats holding the advantage in November, or an incredibly close general-election contest.