The organizers say their movement is driven by a belief among some Democratic activists that the presidency rightfully belongs to Mr. Gore after a disputed 2000 election outcome many never accepted, and that it is time for him to stand up and claim it. But it is also fueled by dissatisfaction within the party over the crop of Democratic candidates.

Image Al Gore learns Friday if he has won a Nobel Peace Prize. Credit... Nicholas Roberts/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Though the Democratic field is widely considered attractive, some Democrats worry that even Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is doing well in the polls, could be beaten in the general election. Some also say they are dissatisfied with the extent of the candidates’ commitment to ending the war in Iraq.

Draft movements are often suspected of being nothing more than stealth organizations set up on behalf of would-be candidates. But organizers in this case say they have had no contact with Mr. Gore.

“We’ve never gotten any encouragement, or discouragement,” said Monica Friedlander, a public relations manager who started Draft Gore from her kitchen in Berkeley, Calif., before the 2004 election.

“He has the combination of vision, experience, leadership, standing in the world and, I think very importantly, ability to win that none of the other candidates have,” Ms. Friedlander said.

Michael Feldman, a former White House aide whose firm, the Glover Park Group, has worked with Mr. Gore to promote “An Inconvenient Truth” — the book and the Oscar-winning film that sprang from it — said, “There isn’t some secret campaign being put together here.”

Still, Mr. Feldman and others said Mr. Gore had been flattered and delighted by the attention. The former vice president has undergone an extraordinary metamorphosis, after all, publicly evolving from likely president-elect to stunning loser to lost soul to national and even international hero. Committed to bringing attention to global warming and other environmental issues, he has a new sense of purpose in that effort, which has earned him a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. (The winner will be announced Friday.)