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WASHINGTON, March 20 — The last time Al Gore appeared publicly inside the United States Capitol, he was certifying the Electoral College victory of George W. Bush.
He returns on Wednesday, a heartbreak loser turned Oscar boasting Nobel
hopeful globe trotting multimillionaire pop culture eminence.
For Mr. Gore, who calls himself a “recovering
politician,” returning to Capitol Hill is akin to a recovering
alcoholic returning to a neighborhood bar. He will, in all likelihood,
deliver his favorite refrain about how “political will is a
renewable resource” and how combating global warming
is the “greatest challenge in the history of mankind.” He
will confront one of his fervent detractors, Senator James M. Inhofe,
Republican of Oklahoma, who derides Mr. Gore as an alarmist.
He will also embrace old friends, pose (or not) for cellphone
photos and greet the legion of climate change disciples who swear by
the “Goracle” as a contemporary sage.
And, of course, he will be asked whether he plans to run for
president in 2008, something he has said no to a million times or so,
if never quite definitively. On Tuesday at a Washington hotel, where
Mr. Gore addressed a group of institutional investors, he was urged on
accordingly.
“Run, Al, run,” one attendee shouted after the former
vice president as he barreled through the hallway, a greeting that has
become as familiar as “hello.”
Almost everywhere he goes these days, Mr. Gore is met with the fuss
of a statesman. His hair is slicked back in a way that accentuates the
new fullness of his face. At the hotel, Mr. Gore’s perma-smile
folded his narrow eyes into slits as he milled his way into a ballroom.
Afterward, he accepted his customary standing ovation, slipped out a
back door and into the back of a Lincoln Town Car, looking almost
presidential.
In a brief phone interview Tuesday night, Mr. Gore said he was eager
to appear before the House and Senate on Wednesday, even though he has
turned down invitations in the past. There is, he said, “an
unwritten tradition” that former presidents and vice presidents
testify only rarely before Congress. He accepted this time in light of
the Democratic takeover and what he calls “a new determination to
deal with this issue,” referring to climate change.
“Mother Nature is a powerful witness and has been sending some
pretty powerful messages that people are hearing,” Mr. Gore said.
And he repeated that he “has no plans” to run for president.
Not that that will stop anyone from speculating, or hoping. “I
don’t think he’s shut the door on it either,” said
Laurie David, the producer of “An Inconvenient Truth,” the
Oscar-winning documentary on global warming starring Mr. Gore,
“although that might just be wishful thinking on my part.”
The prospect of another Gore campaign provides grist for critics to
impugn his motives. “He feels that global warming is his ticket
to the White House,” said Mr. Inhofe, the ranking Republican on
the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works.
Mr. Gore is quick to betray exasperation over the constant
speculation about his political future. But friends also say part of
him clearly enjoys it, if for no other reason than it draws attention
to his crusade on climate change.
Since appearing at the Academy Awards last month, Mr. Gore has
crisscrossed the Atlantic (twice) on a blitz of speaking engagements,
some of which earned him six figures. In May, he will publicize his
newest book, “The Assault on Reason,” billed in promotional
copy as “a visionary analysis of how the politics of fear,
secrecy, cronyism and blind faith has combined with the degradation of
the public sphere to create an environment dangerously hostile to
reason.”
Friends say Mr. Gore is content to be an evangelist for the world
rather than a candidate for office. Hassan Nemazee, a Gore fund-raiser
in 2000 and a friend of Mr. Gore and his wife, Tipper, was host of a
dinner for them last fall, and recalled that Mr. Gore expressed his
disdain for the “tomfoolery of politics” — the
endless fund-raising, the repetitive glad-handing, the sniping among
operatives.
“It’s hard to imagine that returning to politics would
make them happier than they are now,” Mr. Nemazee said.
Friends say Mr. Gore often insists on taking the wheel when he is in
a car, and has become a holy terror of a white-knuckle driver; his Treo
and cellphone are constantly buzzing. While his new fame often draws a
crowd, and often requires him to have aides in tow, he sometimes
travels solo to business meetings or out and about. One friend recalled
how Mr. Gore was alone in a San Francisco subway station recently,
eating a low-fat sandwich as passers-by took pictures of him.
Several friends dwelled particularly on the subject of the
Gores’ wealth: They never really had it before, and both of them
had worried about money at times, with several children to send to
college and a relatively modest lifestyle (other than the eight years
in the vice president’s residence).
They live and work in a mansion in Nashville, keep an old family
home in Virginia, and just bought a seven-figure condominium in San
Francisco. Mr. Gore stood with Leonardo DiCaprio at the Oscars, Queen
Latifah at the Grammys and is on a first-name basis with the rapper
Ludacris (O.K., so Ludacris only has one name, but still.)
His speaking engagements, book and movie sales and holdings in
technology companies have propelled his net worth into the tens of
millions. By comparison, Mr. Gore listed his net worth at $1 million to
$2 million in 1999.
Much of his new wealth has been attributed to his role as an adviser
to Google, the Internet search company, beginning in 2001. It is not
known how many Google shares Mr. Gore owns, but he probably received
stock options as part of his compensation, which would have skyrocketed
after the company went public in 2004. A director of Apple, Mr. Gore
has shares listed in Securities and Exchange Commission filings that
are worth more than $5 million.
Recently, he has invested in Current TV, an independent media
company he formed with Joel Hyatt, the founder of Hyatt Legal Services.
The $70 million purchase was largely paid for by outside investors,
including several Democratic Party donors.
Mr. Gore arrived in Washington on Sunday and has spent much of his
time preparing for his appearance before Congress. He will testify
before House committees on Wednesday morning and before a Senate
committee in the afternoon at a hearing titled “Vice President Al
Gore’s Perspective on Global Warming.”
Friends say it will be a momentous return to Capitol Hill for Mr. Gore, who spent 16 years here as a lawmaker.
“Al Gore always wanted to be accepted as a substantive person
rather than a political person,” said Tony Coelho, a former
Democratic congressman who served as chairman of Mr. Gore’s 2000
presidential campaign. Like many other people who have spent time with
Mr. Gore, Mr. Coelho said he would make a good president. “His
difficulty has always been being a candidate for president,” he
said.
There are still Democrats who hold Mr. Gore responsible for losing
the 2000 election, and the 2008 field is already crowded. But if he
were to decide to run again, Mr. Gore’s fame, network of donors
and wealth would allow him to enter the presidential race late,
political strategists say.
“Al Gore has become a prophet on a major issue and has become
a very large global figure,” said Robert M. Shrum, a Democratic
political consultant who was a senior adviser to Mr. Gore in 2000.
“But he would have to decide if he wants to be a prophet or wants
to try to be president.”
Edward Wyatt contributed reporting from California.
Star in New Role, Gore Revisits Old Stage
::Tullycast:: 