My breakfast with Al Gore didn’t get off to a good start. Let me explain. The
only time the former American vice-president was available for interview was
very early. So we arranged to meet in the English Tea Room at Brown’s hotel
in Mayfair.
I don’t need to remind you that Gore is a very important man. His documentary
about climate change, An Inconvenient Truth, won an Oscar. He very nearly
beat George Bush to the White House. Remember the Florida recount and the
pesky hanging chads and you’ll remember how close the United States came to
electing the man many Americans regard as the “best president we never had”.
The trouble was, I was interviewing him on behalf of a lads’ mag that I won’t
name and which I suspect Gore’s people weren’t familiar with, which is why
they agreed to a half hour slot.
First, I was slightly taken aback to find that Gore wasn’t as tall as I had
imagined and rather rotund. More disarmingly, he was wearing make-up. It
gave him an unintentionally camp look and made my opening question sound
even more absurd.
“I was wondering, could you beat George Bush in a fist fight?”
He faltered briefly, then smiled and said: “Well, it’s certainly tempting to
contemplate that question. But I think, as the vernacular would have it, I’m
going to ‘not go there’.”
And he wouldn’t go there. At all. Okay, who would win a wrestling match? No.
Did you pilfer a White House souvenir when you left? Not going there. Did
you ever get President Clinton drunk? Forget it.
Not going there quickly became the theme of the interview, while in the
background a stocky individual who could have been an assistant, bodyguard
or secret service guy looked on.
Gore didn’t touch any of the food, a feat that must have taken considerable
restraint given his obviously healthy appetite. Perhaps he didn’t want to
disturb the make-up. Occasionally, after “not going there” he’d sup from a
bottle of water and lick his lips.
In between the questions he’d smile and I’d think about what a complete oaf I
was making of myself. Gore is untouchable and he knows it. He’s survived all
the accusations of hypocrisy, even the ones that point out the colossal
amount of energy he burns through while pottering round his 10,000 sq ft
Nashville mansion. When you are Benevolence Personified, mud just doesn’t
stick.
Recently, Gore has become one of the most influential men on the planet: a
polished, drawling do-gooder with the kind of clout that Michael Moore once
hinted at but failed to cash in on because he looked like a tramp. Hard to
believe he was once derided in America for being the most boring man alive.
Right now he is busy putting on a set of massive, global Live Earth
concerts, the roadshow for which reaches London on Saturday.
Despite having fluffed the interview I left in awe of him. What Gore knows
best is how to talk: he’s mastered that rare and mesmerising skill of
getting a message across in a way that can leave no room for debate. It’s
like a Jedi mind trick, and I believed every word.
Now, though, with hindsight and a hint of cynicism, I’m not so sure. Just put
yourself in his shoes for a second. It’s 2000, and he’s just conceded defeat
in the election race. His days in the limelight are numbered. I think Gore
sat down and spent a long time reinventing himself and latching onto the
ultimate noble cause.
I don’t doubt his sincerity about the environment, but could there be other
factors at play here too? The man who is the 6-1 choice to be the Democrat
candidate in 2008 left me with one solid answer in my notebook. “I have no
plans to run for president,” he said with the look of a man who had every
intention of doing exactly the opposite.
I’d vote for him if I could, if only to force Toyota into making a bulletproof
Prius limo.
Mrs Hall is right Al Gore is very intelligent, but I believe he has a more important virture, integrity. I pray he or someone else of his caliber will be in the White House in 2008 .
L. Conwell, Amarillo, TX
I cant believe anyone would ask Mr Gore such crass questions. Its like asking Martin Luther king if he ever wanted to bitch slap the KKK.
The energy Gore uses is renewable and flying round the world - often spending only fours hours in a country for meetings and to deliver his lecture, is not the same as going for weekend breaks in Barcelona.
Glad to see standards of journalism remain so high. When will we treat this problem - and indeed this man - seriously?
Martin, London,
People in the UK seem to be unaware that Al Gore was banging on about green issues long before he ran for President of the USA. I lived there during that election, and remember that he took a lot of stick for his beliefs, which back then were classed as 'eccentric'. A bit like the Prince of Wales, time has proven him right.
F Rose, Brighton, UK
To anyone in awe of him: if you realised the facts about how the climate works over millions of years, i.e. that he talks utter rubbish most of the time and has simply found himself a platform with which to give himself the limelight, you wouldn't be so impressed by him.
James, Ewell, Surrey
What people don't understand or, more often, are not told is that the energy used in his mansion all comes from resuable sources and that he pays through the nose for it.
Paul, Jersey City, NJ, USA
I think Al Gore is one of the most intelligent people in politics. I hope he seriously considers running for president in 2008. I would love to see him and John Edwards as President and Vice President, then perhaps some sanity could return to the US and to the world.
Ann Hall, London, Kentucky