He may not have quite the political skills of Bill Clinton—see: “understatement, massive”—but he did serve eight years in an administration whose economic record is now seen as almost astonishing. (Was the big debate in 2000 really about “What are we going to do with trillions in surpluses?”) He is clearly eligible for the job, since the 22nd Amendment says nothing about how many terms a vice president may serve.

Second, in his years in private life, Gore has become a very wealthy man; nearly as wealthy, apparently, as Mitt Romney. This means that, under our election laws as shredded—uh, interpreted—by the Supreme Court, he could contribute limitless sums of money to his own and Hillary’s campaign.

And history itself offers both a lesson and a wink and a nod to the idea. We did in fact have a vice president who served under two different presidents. Thomas Jefferson in his second term and James Madison in his first term had the same No. 2 man:

Clinton. George Clinton.