(2002-10-03) -- Convinced that being the incumbent worked against him in the 2000 election, Al Gore has carefully crafted what friends call his 'Rocky Balboa' strategy to win in 2004.

"America loves the underdog," said an unemployed political consultant who hopes for a job on the Gore '04 team. "The movie usually starts with Rocky broke, out of shape, mumbling unintelligibly...and yet he comes back to win against impossible odds. That's what Gore's setting up right now."

Indeed, Mr. Gore recently acknowledged being so obese he couldn't get his wedding ring back on, so broke he had to actually get a job, and his recent speeches have caused political pundits on the right and the left to scratch their heads.

"You just wait and see," the consultant said. "He'll drop 80 pounds, and hire a centrist speech writer. America will see in him that come-from-behind fighting spirit that makes us great."