One of the happiest people at yesterday's St Patrick's Day celebrations in Washington DC was Mr Al Gore, the vice-president of the United States. At a breakfast which he attended, the Washington-based Irish-American Democrats endorsed him to succeed President Clinton in next year's election. True, the Irish-American Democrats were not coming down with choices but Mr Gore's enthusiastic support for the peace process boosted his acceptability. The fact that he has seen off almost all the other Democratic hopefuls without yet actually declaring himself to be a candidate pretty well sealed the endorsement.
Last Monday, Mr Gore got a more important endorsement and one which he was less likely to win. Mr Dick Gephardt, leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, warmly supported his candidacy and, with one eye on the cameras, gave him a bear hug for good measure. Up to a month ago, Mr Gephardt was also an undeclared runner for the White House and he spent most of the last six years undermining Mr Gore at every opportunity. Mr Gephardt finally accepted however that he was unlikely to wrest the nomination away from Mr Gore and, even if he did, was even less likely to win the election. Also, Mr Gephardt does not have enough money.
Money is something which Mr Gore has plenty of - and he's going to need it. He filed his papers with the Federal Election Commission on New Year's Eve in order to set up a "Gore 2000" committee which can legally raise campaign funds. Candidates for the White House cannot start raising funds too early. New York and California have moved their primaries forward and television advertising is ruinously expensive. It is reckoned that a minimum of $20 million is needed just to mount a primaries campaign; that means raising about $60,000 per day - every day - this year. Mr Gore's remaining challenger for the Democratic nomination, former senator and basketball star Bill Bradley, does not have the capacity to raise funds that an incumbent Vice President has and consequently Mr Bradley is not expected to remain in the race much longer.
The opposition facing Mr Gore in the election itself will be a more formidable force. The favourite to win the Republican Party's nomination is Mr George W. Bush, the governor of Texas and son of the former president. The latest opinion poll puts Mr Gore 18 points behind Mr Bush. The second favourite for the Republican nomination, Mrs Elizabeth Dole, is also ahead of Mr Gore in the opinion polls. If Mr Bush and Mrs Dole are both on the Republican ticket, Mr Gore, notoriously wooden and prone to gaffes, will have much to worry about.
So far, Mr Gore has been lucky. The absence of strong candidates for the Democratic nomination will allow him in his primary campaigning to appear statesmanlike and stress his success in office rather than hurling abuse at rivals. But he has much ground to make up in the polls and a difficult decision to make on choosing a running mate. His success in taking out his Democratic rivals early may rebound on him. Had other Democrats enjoyed a good run in the primaries, they could have built up a nation-wide profile that would have made them all the more useful as vice-presidential nominees.