Gore unsure of political aptitude: report

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Former Vice President Al Gore isn't sure he has the 'aptitude for politics' it would take to be elected president, but he has not ruled out running in 2008, he told the Tennessean newspaper.

Gore, who has repeatedly said he has no plans to run for president, said on Friday at a signing event for his new book "The Assault on Reason," that he wasn't sure he has what it takes to be elected president in today's political climate.

"I don't expect to get into this race," he said in a story on the paper's Web site. "I have given the reasons why. I strongly prefer to serve in other ways.

"I haven't definitely ruled out a return to politics for the rest of my life, but I don't expect to re-enter politics because I don't think I'm very good at some of the things that the modern political system rewards and requires," he added, saying his "aptitude for politics" did not match what is required in the political system today.

Gore, a Democrat, served as Bill Clinton's vice president for eight years and narrowly lost the 2000 presidential election to George W. Bush.

He is recognized as a dedicated climate crusader who starred in a 2006 global warming documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," which won two Oscars. He also has been nominated for a Nobel prize on the strength of his environmental work.