To Our Readers
Mr. Dooley wrote in 1906, "The prisidincy is th' highest office in th' gift iv th' people. Th' vice-prisidincy is th' next highest an' th' lowest. It isn't a crime exactly. Ye can't be sint to jail fr' it, but it's a kind iv a disgrace. It's like writin' anonymous letters."
Though some have tried to incarcerate his boss, Al Gore, in fact, has not been sent to jail - just to limbo. He lives in a kind of perpetual political eclipse, which he bears with good humor while tackling useful duties, such as heading the project to reinvent government, cheerleading the information superhighway and attending state funerals.
Gore spoke to these same editors at their recent Washington convention, poking fun at his straight-laced public persona. "It was so cold this winter," he dead-panned, "that some people thought I was frozen stiff."
That got a good laugh. So did his observation that the colorful Secret Service code name for the vice president is "Al Gore."
Gore says his response to all the Al Gore jokes he hears is always the same: "I don't think that's funny, Tipper."
What's an evening of 700 handshakes, pleasantries and poses? It's just another brick in the foundation of a future presidential campaign.
