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Jewish World Review July 12, 2002 / 3 Menachem-Av, 5762

Diana West

Diana West
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Goretheus unbound

http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | Gore-watchers (and you know who you are), take note: "Damn" is out and "hell" is in. That's the most visible scuffmark du jour of Al Gore's latest attempt at metaphysical traction, this one made in a recent speech to a private gathering of donors and fund-raisers in Memphis, and instantly relayed to the media by a "Gore aide." "If I had it to do all over again, I'd just let it rip," Gore is said to have said, er, ripped, about having run for president and very, very possibly running again. "To hell with the polls, tactics and all the rest."

All the rest? No immediate reaction from the tin-can lady yet, but such comments make you wonder just how far the former vice president's second thoughts actually go. After all, Gore was recently hollering, literally, about how he thought, "Bill Clinton and I did a damn fine job." Now, it's "to hell" with everything. What exactly does the man mean?

As has always been the case, no one does justice to Al Gore like Al Gore. After his "private" remarks had been shared around the press, Gore emerged to elaborate to reporters. Through the 18 months and one beard since the presidential election, Gore has obviously been weighing what went wrong with his 2000 presidential effort. Now, he says, he sees that the problem was that the campaign was too programmed, too pollstered and too consultanted. (Not, as a top adviser later added, that Gore's comments should be interpreted as being an indictment of anyone on the campaign.) The solution? "I should have spent more time speaking from the heart on a few occasions each week," Gore said, "addressing the major challenges of the country in-depth, and spending a lot less time going to media events and making tactical moves."

In other words, let "it" rip, and from the heart -- but only "on a few occasions each week." This might make you wonder what Gore would have in store for the couple dozen other appearances a candidate might typically make on the stump during a campaign each week. It might also make you wonder about the sincerity of Gore's past commitment to a range of issues, from the Social Security Lockbox to the Democratic Convention Liplock. In other words, New, Spontaneous Gore may be leading to a lot of confusion. If the man really does run for president again, he'll just have to devise an effective way for the rest of us to tell the difference between speeches "from the heart" and ones that are, well, not. Maybe something color-coded?

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JWR contributor Diana West is a columnist and editorial writer for the Washington Times. Comment by clicking here.

Up

07/10/02: Rosie takes a shine to Republicans
07/08/02: Are you still shocked, Sami?
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06/18/02: Terrorism at the United Nations
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06/07/02: Spa Gitmo
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05/24/02: An antiquated luxury of the past
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05/07/02: Western self-loathing numbs us to violence
05/03/02: Pioneering television
05/01/02: Western self-loathing numbs us to violence
04/29/02: It's the misconduct, stupid
04/24/02: Medal of diss-honor
04/17/02: Holy sanctuary or terrorist shield?
04/12/02: Egyptian clerics solicit martyrs for murder
04/09/02: Defining terrorism down
04/05/02: The Wilder life
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03/21/02: The tale of Nixon's tapes --- again
03/19/02: The Big Lie lives on
03/15/02: The tunnel vision of '9/11'
03/13/02: The American Auschwitz?
03/08/02: Hating the indoctrination of hate
03/05/02: Clinton and Enron: Old friends
03/01/02: Pickering doesn't polarize, the process does
02/26/02: Destiny's prefabricated child
02/22/02: The White House heist
02/20/02: Making the grade
02/11/02: Studying student visas
02/06/02: Understanding arrogance
02/04/02: The professor's war
01/29/02: Disconnected dialogue
01/23/02: Anti-Indiscrimination
01/18/02: How much is enough?
01/15/02: Oh brothers, where art thou?
01/10/02: Air on the side of caution
01/04/02: Blacks seeing red at Harvard
01/02/02: Clinton's campaign continues
12/26/01: A tale of two exhibitions
12/24/01: Taliban Idyll
12/19/01: Right is right
12/17/01: Hillary strikes out
12/13/01: Lost files, lost presidency
12/10/01: Revolutionaries never grow up
12/05/01: Immigration reform talk is not just for 'haters' anymore
12/03/01: A new symbol of justice
11/30/01: Beyond morality
11/26/01: Can't keep a good man down
11/20/01: Tough talk at the United Nations
11/19/01: Hollywood's other battle
11/14/01: What's the matter with Sara Jane?
11/09/01: A beef with bin Laden's Beef Noodles
11/07/01: Facing up to the FBI's past mistakes
11/02/01: A school that teaches patriots to shutup
10/30/01: The gap between Islam and peace
10/26/01: The ties that bind (and gag)
10/24/01: This war is more than Afghanistan
10/22/01: The fatuous fatwa
10/19/01: Left out
10/16/01: Whose definition of terrorism?
10/11/01: Post-stress disorder
10/08/01: How the West has won
10/01/01: Good, bad or ... diplomacy
09/28/01: Drawing a line in stone
09/21/01: Prejudice or prudence?
09/14/01: When our dead will finally rest in hallowed ground
09/07/01: We want our #$%^&*() audience back!
08/24/01: The transformation from Green Mountain State to Green Activist State is all but complete
08/17/01: Enlightenment at Yale
08/10/01: From oppressors to victims, a metamorphosis
08/03/01: Opening the dormitory door: College romance in the New Century
08/01/01: How-To Hackdom: The dubious art of writing books about writing books
07/20/01: Hemming about Hemmings
07/13/01: Justice has not been served in the Loiuma police brutality case
06/22/01: When PC parades are too 'mainstream'
06/22/01: When "viewpoint discrimination" in our schools was not nearly so gnarly a notion
06/15/01: Lieberman flaunts mantle of perpetual aggrievement
06/07/01: Is graciousness the culprit?
06/01/01: The bright side of the Jeffords defection
05/29/01: Campus liberals should be more careful
05/18/01: 'Honest Bill' Clinton and other Ratheresian Logic
05/11/01: Dodging balls, Bugs, and 'brilliance'
05/04/01: Foot in mouth disease and little lost Tories
04/20/01:The last classic Clinton cover-up
04/20/01: D-Day, Schmee-Day
04/06/01: For heaven's sake, a little decency!
03/30/01: The sweet sound of slamming doors and clucking feminists
03/23/01: America's magazines and the 'ick-factor'
03/09/01: Felony neglect
03/02/01: Who's sorry now?
02/23/01: 'Ecumenical niceness' and other latter-day American gifts to the world
02/16/01: Elton and Eminem: Royal dirge-icist meets violent fantasist
02/12/01: If only ...

© 2001, Diana West