Sex scandal was "elephant in the living room"

The Post article says the meeting lasted for more than an hour with both men using uncharacteristically blunt language.

Al Gore reportedly told Mr Clinton that the president's sex scandal was a major impediment to his election campaign.

Mr Clinton responded equally forcefully, criticising Al Gore for failing to run on the administration's successful economic record.

Although a Clinton aide is quoted as saying the meeting was tense, a Gore adviser has also said it was a "cathartic" experience for the former vice-president, who needed to get his anger off his chest.

Looking ahead

Some Democrats are now suggesting there is more to this than a personal rift.

How Al Gore deals with Bill Clinton in the future could affect his chances for a future presidential bid.

He's going to have to be large enough to move off the last campaign and at least get some closure

Clinton supporter on Gore

Bill Clinton made a string of political blunders since as he left the White House, accepting expensive gifts, renting luxurious office space, pardoning financial criminals, and yet he remains a strong figure in the Democratic party.

If Al Gore intends to run for president in 2004 he will have to make his peace with Bill Clinton, whether he likes it or not.

According to one Clinton supporter, quoted in the Washington Post article, any sign of rapprochement would suggest Mr Gore wants to run again.

"If he does," said the source "he's going to have to be large enough to move off the last campaign and at least get some closure."

Polarised

The dispute between the two men is being played out in public among their aides, who are now polarised into two opposing camps.

One consultant for Mr Gore published an article describing Bill Clinton's scandal as the "elephant in the living room" preventing his former right-hand man from reaching out to the American voters.

Gore failed to campaign on economy, says Clinton

Many Clinton advisors were infuriated by the article.

But this is also the personal story of a broken friendship.

Al Gore and Bill Clinton had been very close during the first six years of their administration.

But Mr Gore felt betrayed by the president's relationship with Monica Lewinsky and never forgave Bill Clinton for lying about it.

There were often reports of tension during the campaign but one source who has worked with both men says it was far worse than anyone knew.