-Caveat Lector-
Electronic Telegraph
Thursday 14 December 2000
Loser now haunted by nightmare of 'what-ifs'
By Philip Delves, Broughton in New York
ALL his life Al Gore has been a coming man, with the presidency,
it seemed, as his destiny. But yesterday, he woke up consigned to
history by a twist of the Supreme Court's knife.
Far in the distance he could see the keys to the White House
disappearing in the hands of George W Bush and his triumphant
Texas posse. Finally, after 36 days of legal and political
trauma, there was one last conference call with his lawyers, a
final flurry of e-mails, and a conciliatory telephone call from
Bill Clinton in Ireland.
Then it was time to sit down at one of his two laptop computers
and write the speech that announced his concession to a man he
regards as intellectually, politically and morally beneath him.
He will be tortured by what-ifs. What if he had won his home
state of Tennessee? He would be President by now.
What if he had deployed President Clinton to Arkansas earlier?
What if he had not tried so hard to be his own man and ridden
harder on the successes of the Clinton years? In 1970, Al Gore
saw his father, Sen Albert Gore of Tennessee, lose his seat
thanks largely to a devious, nasty campaign run against him by
Richard Nixon's Republicans.
In his concession speech, Sen Gore told his constituents: "The
causes for which we fought are not dead. The truth shall rise
again." The day after his defeat, he spoke to his 22-year-old son
and asked him what he would do if he had been rejected by the
same voters he had served for 32 years. Mr Gore told his father:
"Dad, I would take the 32 years."
Six years after his father's defeat, Mr Gore's own political
career began as he was elected first to the House of
Representatives, continuing a family cycle which was meant to
culminate in the presidency. It will be the dashing of those
hopes, as much as the pain of losing, which will have been
preying on Mr Gore's mind yesterday.
Like Nixon, Mr Gore is a curiously friendless man. He believes
that few are worthy of his trust, and has none of the embracing
friendliness of Mr Clinton, or former President Bush. It is
telling that he relies so much on his family for support and
advice. His closest advisers are his wife, Tipper, his daughters,
Karenna and Kristin, and his brother-in-law, Frank Hunger.
Despite his claims to be working for the working man, few
Americans, even among the majority who voted for him, were ever
convinced that Mr Gore was working for anyone but himself. It was
an impression confirmed by his single-minded pursuit of the
presidency.
Now that he must vacate the Naval Observatory, the
Vice-President's official residence, it is not clear where he
will go. His wife owns a small house outside Washington DC which
she leases to Mr Hunger. Mr Gore owns a few acres in Tennessee,
which belonged to his father. His financial situation is not
impressive for a man of 52.
He has few savings, no stocks and was attacked in the press two
years ago when he was found to give almost nothing to charity. He
tried to remedy that by making a large donation last year. He is
also unusually unqualified for a man vacating such a high
political office. Unlike most of his political generation, he has
no professional qualifications.
After graduating from Harvard, he dropped out of divinity and
then law school in Tennessee. Despite his reputation for legal
wrangling, he is not a lawyer like Mr Clinton. Nor does he have
any business experience, like Mr Bush. The only work he has done
besides politics is journalism, after his father got him a job
with the Tennessean.
Given his poor relationship with the press, it is hard to
imagine him returning to Grub Street. He may however write
another book after the success of his last book, Earth in the
Balance, his ruminations on the environment. America's
traditional route for ex-politicians in need of cash is lobbying
or corporate work.
But Mr Gore lacks the charm to be a popular board member, and it
is hard to imagine him sticking on a grin and joining the
backslapping lobbyists. His much-touted virility would rule him
out from following the path of the defeated candidate in 1996,
Bob Dole, who went on to make television advertisements
describing treatments for erectile dysfunction.
One theory is that Mr Gore will assume the presidency of his
Alma Mater, Harvard, which will soon be vacant. That would
satisfy his craving for intellectual company. Harvard also has a
reputation as a retirement home for liberal politicians.
He may, however, be put off by the thought of being across the
quad from Mr Clinton, who is tipped for a teaching post at the
university's Kennedy School of Government.
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Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
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