Friends of Al Gore say he won't run again for President.

"In a notable shift of sentiment, several associates of former Vice President Al Gore said today that they were becoming increasingly convinced that he would not run for president in 2004 and would instead announce in early January that he was stepping aside to allow a new face to challenge President Bush."

And, consider this:

"Further, while Mr. Gore has never been much of a traditional political player, he has, by every account, not made the kind of preparatory telephone calls a candidate for president might typically place in anticipation of an announcement. For example, Donna Brazile, his campaign manager in 2000, said she had not offered him any advice on what he might do, because she had not heard from him in months.

"I haven't reached out to talk to him, because my number is listed," Ms. Brazile said. "I haven't heard from him. I've been talking to Gephardt. I've been talking to Lieberman."