Al Gore and The Factor

To watch "The Talking Points Memo" click here.

Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly.  Thanks for watching us tonight.

We'd like to welcome our new viewers in Chicago, watching on AT&T broadband.  We hope you like The Factor .

Al Gore is the subject of this evening's Talking Points Memo .

He and his wife have a new book out, and they're on a month-long promotional tour.  But thus far, The Factor is not on their dance card.  The publisher of Mr. Gore's book knows we sell tons of books here because our audience is interested in public policy.  So we have to assume that Mr. Gore just doesn't like us.

It's ironic that Democrats like John Kerry, John Edwards, and even Joe Lieberman seem to enjoy coming on this program, but Mr. Gore will not appear.  This despite the fact that we did him a solid in his campaign.  Remember when Mr. Gore said a young girl in Florida had nowhere to sit in her public school classroom because of overcrowding?  The press went wild, accusing Gore of exaggerating, but we found the girl, and the story was accurate.  Here's what Al Gore had to say about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL GORE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  You know, I would refer you to Fox's Riley Show -- is that what you call it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  That's Bill O'Reilly.

GORE:  Yes, Bill O'Reilly was one of the few who actually interviewed the father of the girl who wrote me the letter, and the girl herself, and actually looked into the facts.  And he is not known to be a partisan on my behalf, I might say.  But at the conclusion of his show, he said -- and I'm happy to get you the transcript, if you'd like -- he said, Well, it doesn't look to me like this ought to be an issue, because it doesn't look to me as if the vice president exaggerated at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'REILLY:  And that's true.  But apparently Mr. Gore simply does not feel comfortable meeting me face to face.  And I am feeling a bit hurt about that.  But I chalk it up to this.  Al Gore is used to do exactly what Al Gore wants to do.  Like George W. Bush and many other politicians, Mr. Gore grew up rich and privileged.  He would find it appalling to have to explain himself to the likes of me, and I would insist that he answer the questions.  There is no two-step in the No Spin Zone.

But what apparently Mr. Gore will never realize is that many Americans simply do not trust him.  And that he must win over some of those people if he ever wants to be president.  This is not about ideology.  If you think we're promoting the Republicans here, run that by John Ashcroft and Jeb Bush.

Last week, Al Gore spoke to Barbara Walters, the ratings tanked, and they'll likely tank again tonight when he shows up on CNN.  That's because the folks know that Mr. Gore will dance the tango with no problem, and we've all seen it before.

But if Mr. Gore came on The Factor, I believe the ratings would be huge.  All across America, folks would be serious to see if Al Gore could handle straight talk.  And if he could, some minds might be changed, as Rosie O'Donnell and others have found out.

So once again, we invite Al Gore, Tipper, their family, pets, any close friends to join us here on The Factor.  We'll light a fire, cozy up for some good conversation.  What say you, Mr. Gore?

And that's The Memo .

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

Time now for the "Most Ridiculous Item of the Day..."

With Christmas coming up fast, millions of little girls want Barbie dolls, of course, and the Mattel company has a surprise for parents this year.  A new doll called "My Scene Barbie" features crop tops, low-riding jeans, and bare midriffs.

Hey, Mattel, why don't you just make a lap-dancing Barbie and get it over with, all right?

Of course, this is ridiculous, and we hope Santa will not be carrying those things on his sleigh.

means.  So it's here.  You have been warned.  You might want to check it out.

— You can watch Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points and "Most Ridiculous Item" weeknights at 8 & 11p.m. ET on the Fox News Channel. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com