That might be the problem...high SATs and all, maybe the part of the brain that makes good decisions is in atrophy. There's a process that's supposed to go on, through the primaries, that ensures that the candidate gains strength and campaigning skills by the time of the nomination. Going through that process probably helped GWB develop as a candidate.
AlGore had a coronation, not the process of fighting for the nomination. He just didn't have it together, and he chose a VP who'd never been part of the national scene. No process, lousy VP choice, no victory.
So, why would he want to do something that he must've hoped would make Dean a shoo-in? If the process is short-circuited like this, Dean will be a sure-fire disaster with all of his misstatements about his own positions and personal weaknesses. The Dems (and in no poll does Dean rise to majority) will be fed up...it looked like it just might have been an interesting convention with some Pres-VP coming out of it that would be a true consensus slate that the voters, not the party, chose.
Yeah, that's it, AlGore must be just plain dumb.