Boston Globe

Low-profile Gore beginning to stir

By Susan Baer, Baltimore Sun, 6/24/2001

ASHINGTON - For a while, Al Gore's postelection life looked like that of a private citizen. He went to the movies, took his wife to New York on their anniversary to see ''The Producers,'' expanded his backyard deck, went to his son's lacrosse games, put on weight.

But six months after losing the presidential race in an extraordinary battle, the former vice president's life is beginning to resemble the very public, very busy life he had led for most of the past 24 years - a life of speeches, airports, hotel rooms, parties, policy, and politics.

People close to Gore say he is not likely to reenter the public arena in earnest until this fall, and, in his deliberate manner, is still pondering, as one associate says, ''how he wants to emerge.''

But as Democrats, and Gore himself, debate his political future, the candidate who won the popular vote but lost in the Electoral College appears to be at least laying the groundwork for a comeback.

''Privately, he's reaching out to a network of political friends and supporters, but it's all pretty low-key,'' said Carter Eskew, Gore's chief strategist in the 2000 campaign.

In recent weeks, Gore has held get-togethers with friends and supporters across the country. The lunches and dinners are not fund-raisers, said Gore's spokeswoman, Kiki McLean, but rather a way to thank his supporters. They are also a way to keep once and possibly future contributors interested.

Gore held a cocktail party recently at his Tudor-style home in Arlington, Va., for about 100 senior staffers from his campaign, and a larger cash-bar party for more than 1,000 campaign workers at a downtown brew pub where chants of ''Gore in Four'' greeted the jeans-clad headliner.

He has been talking to supporters about establishing a policy institute in Tennessee, perhaps connected to Vanderbilt University, where he attended divinity school for a year, as well as a political action committee. ''I'm sure he will do everything possible to keep all of his options open,'' said his 2000 campaign press secretary, Chris Lehane.

Friends and associates say Gore generally has appeared upbeat and optimistic and, outwardly at least, not obsessed with his heartbreaking loss.

People close to Gore say that, like most of his former staff, he believes he would have won the presidency if the US Supreme Court had allowed the Florida recount to be completed. But they say his victory in the popular vote has softened the blow, making his feelings of rejection less painful than they otherwise might be.

Gore has thrown himself into his new career as a teacher, and is writing a book with his wife Tipper on the family in America.

In the fall, Gore plans to resume teaching at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, Nashville's Fisk University, and Middle Tennessee State University, three schools where he taught courses last semester.

He is developing a curriculum at the University of California, Los Angeles, for a program on ''family-centered community building,'' a subject he plans to lecture on at several universities.

Like former president Clinton, Gore has been hitting the lecture circuit, in some cases collecting sizable paychecks from corporations and industry groups.

Although he peppers his speeches with self-deprecating humor regarding the election - ''I used to be the next president of the United States,'' he often says after being introduced - he has tended to avoid political commentary.

Publicly, Gore has been conspicuously silent since the election - even on the environment, which was his signature issue and which has become a major focus and point of debate in Bush's first six months in office.

People close to Gore say he felt strongly that he should refrain from commenting on the Bush administration for a time to allow the nation to recover from the bitterly contested election.

Still, Gore has been criticized for letting slip by what some say was a prime opportunity. Former vice president and presidential candidate, Walter F. Mondale, said: ''He's the titular head of the party. We've got to hear from him.'' Gore might become more visible by the end of summer. ''He made it clear that out of respect for the presidency and the nation, he would give Bush a certain amount'' of time, ''but that time period is quickly coming to an end,'' Lehane said. ''A lot of issues that are near and dear to his heart are at stake.''

Gore's associates say there is plenty of time for him to decide whether to make another go at the White House.

Many of Gore's friends and advisers say that if they had to bet, they would put their money on another Gore presidential run. Ultimately, Eskew said, it's going to be ''a very personal calculus.''

This story ran on page A12 of the Boston Globe on 6/24/2001. © Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.

-- Anonymous, June 26, 2001

Answers

Mondale is so full of shit. The primary spokesperson for the Democrats at this point has to be Tom Dascle (sp?). Gore can help his party by just keeping quiet.

-- Anonymous, June 26, 2001

Indeed, Gore said that as soon as he gets rid of his fat [not Tipper] he would become more visible and audible.

I thought the visibility factor would be the opposite, but then he is a democrat....

-- Anonymous, June 26, 2001