IF AL GORE can pull himself away from saving the planet long enough, he might want to consider rescuing the Demo cratic Party from the clutches of utter self-destruction.

Campaigning against an unpopular war in Iraq, a sputtering economy and a disappearing dollar, Democrats cannot lose in November. But wait! They're Democrats!

"The only reason we ever lose is when we beat ourselves," one nervous Democrat grumbled yesterday as the primary dogfight dragged on.

Hillary Rodham Clinton has made it clear she won't quit and no one expects Barack Obama to exit - and so on to the Denver party convention they go, viciously attacking one another all the way.

Forget the red phone for a national-security crisis. Where is the red phone for a political party trying to destroy itself? And where is the party leader with the respect, stature, wisdom and influence to answer the crisis phone?