Anyone who was truly surprised, even shocked, by former Vice President Al Gore’s announcement on Sunday’s “60 Minutes” must not have seen him on “Saturday Night Live.” Hearty self-parody, gleeful lampooning of fellow Democrats, cavorting in a hot tub with an actor portraying his 2000 running mate are hardly laying the groundwork for a 2004 campaign.

The obvious intent of Mr. Gore’s goofing was to prepare the public, his supporters and political observers for his decision not to seek a rematch with President George W. Bush. That it did not is one example of the difficulty Mr. Gore seems to have in getting his message across.

Still, the decision is wise. Unless the tone of political campaigns improves dramatically in the next 18 months, a 2004 rematch would be little more than a rehash; as he put it during the “60 Minutes” interview, “a focus on the past that would in some measure distract from the focus on the future that I think all campaigns have to be about.” The decision gives other Democrats with presidential aspirations – Sens. Joseph Lieberman, John Kerry, Tom Daschle and John Edwards, Rep. Dick Gephardt, Gov. Howard Dean – the chance to campaign for the nomination instead of having to campaign against the prohibitive favorite. And, although Mr. Gore said 2004 may be his last chance to run for president, he will be only 60 years old in 2008 and could be remembered for the prosperous ’90s more than the acrimonious end of 2000.

The other Democrats have been given a great opportunity to establish themselves as national figures; may they not squander it. The central domestic issue of the 2004 campaign will be, as it almost always is, the economy, but, unlike the last time a President Bush sought re-election, not just in the general sense of being better or less well off, but in specific subject areas. Health insurance is fast approaching a crisis in which neither employers nor employees can afford it. The debate on tax policy is moving beyond the general desirability of cutting them to some very difficult decisions on who – rich, middle or poor – should pay them. Without the distractions a rematch would permit, the 2004 campaign could be one of the more enlightening of recent times, provided the other Demo-crats are as forward-looking as the one who stepped aside.

Mr. Gore clearly grasps the underlying problem with a rematch. “The last campaign was an extremely difficult one,” he told “60 Minutes” interviewer Leslie Stahl. “And while I have the energy and drive to go out there and do it again, I think that there are a lot of people within the Democratic Party who felt exhausted by that…” He also demonstrates a pretty good flair for comedy – the “SNL” skit in which a daydreaming “President” Gore rehearsed different deliveries to the command “Get me Putin!” was hilarious.