Former Vice President Al Gore isn't shying away from the speculation he might jump back into the political fray with a second White House bid.

First he teased Oscar viewers with a joke that he was making an announcement, and then he got some hearts racing last night with an e-mail titled "Our next step."

The e-mail was not announcing anything major, but let Gore supporters know the Democrat would make good on his promise to deliver thousands of postcards urging action on climate change to Congress.

As reported in December in our print edition, Gore has been collecting messages to bring to Washington. He'll have the perfect moment to dump the mailbag when he testifies before joint Congressional hearings about global warming on March 21.

His message also includes an appeal to supporters to get more people to visit his Web site.

"This is an incredible opportunity to demonstrate to Congress that we demand immediate action," he wrote. "And I need your help to really make this moment count. Can you commit to getting 10 friends to send their message to Congress through AlGore.com before March 21st? The more voices I can bring to Washington, the more powerful our message will be."

He also hinted that his next journey will not be toward 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, it will instead be toward mobilizing major legislative action.

"The hundreds of thousands of you who signed messages to Congress showed me what's possible," he said. "Working together we can unite millions of people and build support for real action on a scale that has never been seen before. Help me take the first step and fill up that hearing room with your signatures. That picture alone will send a powerful message."

Stay tuned.

-- Christina Bellantoni, Capitol Hill correspondent, The Washington Times