I keep seeing these stories pop up.  Initially they were from bloggeres, but now even Time magazine has expressed that this may be the best way for the Democrats to "come together". 
There have been quite a few bad ideas floated around lately, but this has got to be one of the worst.
The Democratic party leadership is not going to turn the election over to a man who didn't campaign, and apparently didn't think he had a good shot at the nomination in the first place. 
Franklin Roosevelt struggling with the diverse nature of the party seventy years ago.  And it hasn't gotten much better.  Gore is a single issue candidate who would only make things worse. 
When you factor in the latest information on global warming, even that may not be such a "hot" issue if you'll pardon the pun. 
Here are just a few of the latest articles.
Global Warming's missing heat. from NPR.
Former Global warming activist, now skeptic. in this article
But maybe even Gore is finally seeing the light.

I'm not a complete global warming skeptic, but I'm starting to lean towards the need for much more research on this, as I think many others are. 
So what would Gore bring to the party?  Well he is probably slightly to the right of Hillary, so he could salvage a few moderates perhaps, but surely that would be offset by the disgruntled Obama and Clinton supporters who would vote for McCain. 

In all fairness, this is still a fringe idea (Gore getting the nomination) but the fact that it is picking up some steam has got to have the Dem party leadership in even more of a quandary.

The bottom line is Barack Obama has to get the nomination.  Even if Hillary Clinton pulls close in elected delegates, the party leadership and super-delegates can't let her win.  Blacks have as a group supported the Democratic party by more than 80%. If they go, the party goes.  They are the core group that holds the party together. 

If the fracture between Obama and Clinton threatens to shred the party, the only logical alternative is another black candidate.  Harold Ford could step in and probably actually save the party from itself, Al Gore would just make the schism deeper than it already is.