For some time now, it has been all but a foregone conclusion that -- despite the wishes of his growing fan base -- former Vice President Al Gore would not be joining the race for the presidency this time around. Sure, some supporters still hold out hope, and despite a prominent setback recently, the official "Draft Gore" movement hasn't given up yet.

The news from Fortune magazine today throws some cold water on the dreams of the diehards, though. Gore has gone public with his latest plan, and it doesn't involve Iowa: He's joining the prominent venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers as an active partner.

Of all the venture capital firms in the world, it's no surprise Gore would join this one. Not only was Kleiner Perkins an early investor in Amazon.com and Google, two of the major beneficiaries of Gore's greatest invention (calm down, people, it's a joke), its current head, John Doerr, is a player in Democratic politics who has long been linked to Gore, and the company has been focusing on "green" investments and companies of late. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is also affiliated with the firm.