WASHINGTON -- The Florida Democratic Convention provided the platform for the return of former Vice President Albert Gore to the national political scene last weekend. He jumped in with both feet in Florida, accusing President George W. Bush of a litany of misconceived policies, from the economy to the environment, that are "wrong for America."

Gore was the centerpiece of a passel of national Democrats who visited Lake Buena Vista for the party's biennial convention. The meeting was ostensibly to make plans for the state's important elections this fall, including how to challenge Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's brother. But it turned into the first "cattle call" of the 2004 presidential election.

Gore may have been the headliner, but he had real competition from others who aspire to lead the Democratic party in 2004. Also on hand was his 2000 running mate, Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, as well as North Carolina Senator John Edwards and Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd -- not a full pack, but enough to let Gore know that he will have competition for the nod in 2004 if he decides to make a run for it.

Gore was blunt in his criticism of Bush's domestic policies -- after reminding the audience that he supported the war on terrorism. The Bush administration, he charged, had embraced a huge tax cut that "shoveled it out to the wealthiest tax brackets," and in so doing had helped put the federal budget back into the red. Gore also rapped the administration for tapping into the Social Security and Medicare trust funds to pay for other priorities.

Gore argued that "the differences between our parties have never been sharper," ripping Republicans for "rhetorically" supporting the environment while allowing lobbyists for big corporations to write the administration's environmental policies "behind closed doors."

He accused the administration of breaking its promise to not allow drilling off Florida's coast and of walking away from the Kyoto treaty to reduce global warming. He also said the administration had revealed its own values by seeking to "dismantle the medical privacy of American citizens" while insisting "that their own right to privacy allows them to hold secret meetings" with special interests in writing their energy plan.

Many Democrats are openly debating whether another Gore candidacy would be good for the party. Gore has not made a decision about running again, although Democratic National Committee Chairman Terence McAuliffe predicted he will.

Gore's performance in Florida, and the response he received, appeared aimed at silencing criticism that he has been too timid in critiquing Bush and in reminding potential rivals that he should not be ignored.

Accompanied by his wife, Tipper, Gore entered the hotel ballroom to the thumping music of U2 and a boisterous reception, with many of the 2,500 delegates cheering loudly and waving placards that showed an outline of the state of Florida and the words "Still Gore Country!" Just as he was beginning his speech, the audience took up the chant, "Gore in four, Gore in four."

Gore noted that since Sept. 11 he has strongly supported the Bush administration's war on terrorism, but this time he signaled that he was ready for political combat by saying, "Here in America, patriotism does not mean keeping quiet. It means speaking up."

He urged Democrats "to speak out boldly" against what he argued is a "rightwing" effort to use the war on terrorism to implement a harmful domestic agenda.

The U.S. Senate passed the Dodd-Bond Election Reform Bill rather quickly on Friday, moving the last piece of the post-2000 election clean-up effort to the final stage. The House of Representatives had already passed its own version of an election reform measure last fall and it is ready to go to conference and be signed by the president soon.

The bill does two things:

* It provides some national standards for election administration -- setting standards for equipment and voting procedures.

* It provides a lot of money to local election officials to upgrade their election systems.

The money is the key to the deal. Local officials are generally anxious to improve their election administration, but they do not have the money to buy the equipment or pay for the training they need to do the job. The Federal money will give them what they need to improve their systems, and they will buy the new regulations to get the money. By the 2004 elections, we will have a much-improved system of elections.

This is all thanks to the hanging chads and the pregnant chads and the goofiness of the Florida election system of 2000. It was so bad that all of America was embarrassed and public opinion has driven the legislation through both the House and Senate, and soon to final passage. American voters usually get what they want.