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National News
In his first television interview since his crushing defeat to George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential race, Gore, along with his
wife Tipper and two of their daughters, talk with Barbara Walters about the gut-wrenching post-election drama and about what comes
next.
For two years, Gore has been keeping a low profile. He resurfaced for a bit as a tweed-jacketed, bearded professor. He stepped
back into the political spotlight this fall, stumping for Democratic candidates in the midterm elections.
In his campaign swings, Gore appeared much more relaxed promoting other candidates than he had when he was seeking the
White House. Often wryly opening his speeches by saying, "I used to be 'the next President of the United States of America'," his
campaign appearances are filled with references -- both witty and poignant -- to the 2000 presidential race. "Every time somebody
tells you that your vote doesn't make a difference, tell them to come see me and talk about that," he told an audience at a campaign
stop in Iowa.
You Win Some, You Lose Some, and Then ...
When voters woke up on the morning after Election Day 2000, there was still no new President-elect. For the next 36 days, the
battle to recount votes in Florida transfixed a campaign-weary nation. There were machine recounts and hand recounts; butterfly
ballots and dimpled chads. At one point Gore trailed Bush by little more than 300 votes.
The Gores recall election night, and the month of unprecedented uncertainty that followed as an emotional roller coaster. The
Gores' 25-year-old daughter Kristin, who'd been active in the campaign, was also in disbelief. "It was pretty devastating. My father
and mother were so amazing because I was sort of breaking down ... and they were just very, very strong, and they became parents,
you know, they really comforted us," she said.
And the family needed comfort. Convinced that the race was lost, Gore called George Bush privately to concede; but just
minutes before delivering his concession speech to his supporters and the nation, he got a call and learned that the preliminary
numbers weren't holding up.
"So I called Governor Bush back and said, 'Look, uh, this turns out to be very different from what it looked like when we talked a
couple of hours ago.' ... He said that 'well, my, my little brother tells me that Florida was over with.' And I said, 'Well, with all due
respect, I don't think your little brother has the final word on this.'"
Gore says he does believe that the White House could have been his, "specifically when the Florida Supreme Court ruled that
they would have to actually count all the ballots. That's all I asked for."
Then the Bush camp pushed the case to the Supreme Court. In a stunning 5-4 decision the justices ended Gore's efforts to
continue the recount. "Truthfully, I was shocked. I know I shouldn't have been because many predicted it, but I did not think that
decision would come. I just didn't think that it would come," he said.
Tipper said, "I don't think they ever should have taken the case."
Following the high court's action, Gore called Bush before making his concession speech. "I said, 'Congratulations.' And then I
said, 'I'm not going to call you back this time.'"
Remarkably, Gore seems to have gotten past the bitter defeat. He said, joking, "My attitude was that you win some, you lose
some, and then there's that little-known third category ... You flip a coin and it lands on its edge."
In retrospect, he admits he could have done things differently. He agrees that he could have communicated better on the
campaign trail, acknowledging that he was sometimes awkward and stiff in public. He also acknowledges that his now-famous
exasperated sighs in his debates with Bush hurt him. "I wish I hadn't reacted that way. I was exasperated by some of the things, a
lot of the things, that he was saying," Gore said.
But Gore bristles at another major criticism -- that he relied too much on his wife, Tipper, and daughter, Karenna -- for advice
during the campaign. Gore said, "Look, I plead guilty to being extremely close to my wife and children. ... and I make no bones
about that. I trust their judgment. Now should I have had a broader and more inclusive inner circle? I think there's some validity to
that criticism."
Back in the Ring?
Gore had planned to re-enter politics and challenge President Bush's economic policies at a big political dinner in Iowa that was
scheduled for late September 2001. But then, the Sept. 11 attacks happened. So instead of criticizing the president at that event,
Gore said this: "George W. Bush is my Commander-in-Chief."
"I felt that he did a terrific job in the aftermath of September 11, in the immediate aftermath, and I said so at the time," Gore said.
But since then, he has stepped up his criticism of the president. He says he doesn't think the administration has laid out a clear
plan and rationale for proposed military action against Iraq.
He says he's worried that the Bush's approach to America's economic troubles is failing.
But Gore's criticism of the Bush administration and Republican policies didn't sway voters in midterm elections earlier this
month. The GOP now controls both houses of Congress, as well as the White House.
Gore knows the loss was a wake-up call for his party. "It was a massive defeat for the Democratic Party and we have to accept
that ... and come out fighting as the loyal opposition not just in name, but in reality and fight for the average families in this country
who are, in many ways, under more economic stress than they have been under in 50 years," he said.
Focus on Family
There are few things Al Gore cares more about than the state of the American family. In fact, for the past 11 years, Al and Tipper
Gore have hosted a major conference at Vanderbilt University, bringing together experts, professors, political figures and families --
to dig into critical issues affecting families.
As a result of their involvement with the Family Conference, their own family's experience and deeply held beliefs, Al and Tipper
have written a new book on the American family called Joined at the Heart. The book is part personal memoir along with analysis of
how the American family has been redefined. "We've been eager to write this book for quite a while. ... The family in America may
look different today, uh, it's no longer mainly Ozzie & Harriet. It's not yet Ozzie Osbourne. But it's everything," Gore said.
The Gores' book profiles a dozen very different families, including "blended families" which combined after divorce and remarriage;
inter-racial families; some with disabled children; immigrant families and families with gay parents.
Tipper Gore says balancing work and family is the biggest challenge facing families today. "People are working harder, they're
working longer hours and they feel like there's not enough time to spend with their families," she said.
Besides Kristin and Karenna, Al and Tipper Gore have two other children, 23-year-old Sara and 20-year-old Albert, both away at
school. Karenna, the oldest, is married and the mother of two. But Al Gore says it's Kristen, the comedian in the family, who may
have opened up a whole new career for him -- just in case that political thing doesn't work out.-- Kristen is a writer for the TV show
Futurama, and this past Sunday, her father starred -- playing himself.
But given the recent Republican victories in last week's mid-term elections, Al Gore may be needed by his party back here on
Earth.
[Gore-Walters Unaired Interview Excerpts]
Go To Original
Friday, 15 November, 2002
One thing we want to leave you with to remember us by is another excerpt from Barbara Walters interview with Al Gore and
family, which airs tonight on 20/20 at 10:00 p.m. ET/9:00 p.m. CT (check your local listings).
The following exchanges, while sure to interest Note readers and historians, actually won't be part of tonight's 20/20 broadcast,
so you can read them only here and now:
WALTERS: I'm not sure that people realize that while you were in the residence of the Vice President [during the Florida recount]
there were crowds of people outside screaming at you. What was that all about?
AL GORE: Well, this was the Republican response to what was happening during that 36-day period, and they organized
busloads of people that came and stood outside the house all day and all night screaming at the top of their lungs.
WALTERS: What, "Get out!"?
TIPPER GORE: Things like that, yes, and, and sometimes ... things that we don't want to say on your program, and, some
people saw that they were buses from "churches," but it was organized. The one thing that, that they did mainly was reach the
bedrooms of our children, and Albert was still in school locally, and trying to study, so we rearranged, you know, they ... kids moved
to a different part of the house, and I was trying to think of a way that we could kind of laugh about this since obviously it was out of
our control, there wasn't anything anybody could do so I got all the boom boxes in the house and ... I remember sort of what the
government did with Noriega ... I thought we'd try that, and I aimed them at, toward, you know, where the crowd ...
WALTERS: The crowd?
TIPPER GORE: ... And I put nature sounds on and turned it all the way up. And at least the kids laughed.
AL GORE: There were a few, more than a few who supported us and were offended by the organized chanting round the clock
who came out on the other street corner during the day to express their support with signs, and ... You know, emotions were running
high throughout the country and it was just an unprecedented time.
KARENNA GORE: Well, when we were in the Vice President's house during the recount, it was it was very intense. And one of
the things I remember is that there was a ... an organized effort by, I don't know whether it was the RNC or it was ... it was right-wing
groups, it was definitely Bush-campaign-oriented effort to bus in people to have a sort of siege at the Vice President's house, and,
so, they were all lining there, screaming, and it was kind of an assortment of groups. I mean, some of them were anti, um, were
anti-abortion groups, and some of them were pro-gun groups, and some of them ... they all had their different signs. But they were all
screaming, "Get out of Cheney's house," the whole time. And I just remember being there next to my dad, because I went for a run,
and I ran back through them, and I was very upset when I came into the house. And my whole attitude was, like, "We've got to fight
back harder. And where are our crowds?" And my dad, I'll never forget his response. He said, "We have to do what's best for the
country, and it is not good for the country to have this kind of divisiveness. And he was on the phone, really calling off the dogs.
There were people who wanted to fan the ... the flames of the racial issue and have real unrest. And he was on the phone asking
them not to, because of what was best for the country not because of what was best for him politically. And that's really who he is.
WALTERS: Do you remember the crowds outside screaming?
KRISTEN GORE: The crowds that were screaming outside our house, you know, "Get out of Cheney's house." And other things
... of that nature, were really upsetting. It was difficult ... It was just very ... upsetting that someone would ... yell those things at us.
It felt ... we felt sort of like ... trapped in this ... you know, little house with all these people yelling mean things. It's no fun. You
know, whether you're a child of the person who they're directed at, or anyone else. It ... it wasn't a good situation.
WALTERS: Were you scared?
KRISTEN GORE: I was scared that the truth was not going to come out. That's what I was worried about.
Copyright or Used by Permission, ©2006 ChewinTheFat.com
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