But the times called for something sturdier than breaking an ashtray Wednesday night, and I came away a little disappointed. Gore bantered with Conan about a Dylan concert both had attended, but he seemed not to have a purpose for being there except to flog his two fluffy simultaneously published books on family policy.

He came across as lively and with-it, and able to maintain a razorwire conversation with O'Brien — but that was it. People wanting to see him stake out some turf in the 2004 political war, as his recent criticisms did, were likely disappointed.

Democrats know that the next guy or gal they send out there has to be a political King Kong, able to survive endless divebombing, able to break through the fog of misdirection and character assassination that the GOP will be laying down.

The Rove administration creamed Gore in 2000. While Gore sought to score policy points, Rove and company waged the only campaign Americans seem to care about, one rooted in gossip, personality, "stance," and a philosophy cadged from the world of advertising — whoever seems most "American" wins. There's nothing new about this approach, but Bush's people were inordinately disciplined and cheerfully willing to win by spreading false innuendoes about Gore's character, relying on GOP flunkies in the commentariot (like Richard Berke, Tim Russert, and Howard Fineman) to do their dirty work.

And Gore let them do it.

Bush narrowly edged Gore — that phrase does not do justice to the excruciating closeness of that election, in which Gore got more votes, even in Florida, but still managed to lose the prize.

As Gore puts it, "There is winning, and there is losing, and there is that rare third category."

People wanted Gore to land one on the Bush administration, but he still seems consigned to being the policy guy. He will lose as the policy guy, because elections are no longer about issues, even in the harrowing international environment we are currently staggering through.

Politics today is about manipulation of the emotions, and the Rove group are past masters at it. Gore, sad to say, is a piker. I'm afraid to say it, but a presidential candidate may never be able to be decent again, and campaign from the heart, and connect with voters on real matters. Presidential politics (I hope what I am saying is untrue) has become a dirty, deceptive realm in which manipulation and duplicity and sales sizzle trump the issues.

To make matters worse, Gore was followed by a rave-up performance of Springsteen's E Street band, joined by the Max Weinberg brass consortium. It was, I swear, a 10 minute play it to the death epic version of "Kitty's Back," and Springsteen sang and played with remarkable youth and — what shall I call it — clarity. He cut through 30 years of claptrap, and provided an evening of passionate charm and intensity.