Gary Hart will be on Crossfire tonight. His speech yesterday in Virginia, Restoration of the Republic, will be available here shortly.

Hart called for a "restoration of the republic," a high-minded ideal of civic involvement and concern for the public good.

"We are all 'first responders,"' Hart told about 100 students at the University of Virginia. "We're all in this together. The ideal may be more plausible in the 21st century than at any time since the founding."

His high-minded speech to students and others at the school was the third in a quartet of "major policy addresses" Hart is giving as he tests the waters for a dark-horse presidential bid.

But he left some confusion when he was asked, if he didn't run for president, whether he might challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell in 2004. He told the crowd it would be a "tempting prospect" if it would help the Democrats retake the Senate. But in an interview after his talk, he flatly declared, "I'm not running for Senate."