The Al Gore fable
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Jun 5, 2006
Al Gore is in the news again. But this time
he’s not being roundly criticized for donning
earth tone clothes or for his wooden
speechmaking. Rather, we’re witnessing his
civic redemption, and it’s worth noting for
the insights each of us can gain.
After Gore lost the 2000 presidential election,
he reappeared on the public scene masked in a
heavy beard and some additional weight. Many
pundits found much to mock in him – from his
comments about “inventing the Internet,” to
his poor campaigning style, to his new look.
But to his credit, Gore went off and found
inspiration in a collection of activities that
called him to step forward anew. He launched a
TV initiative as well as joined the boards of
intriguing companies. He put together a series
of hard-hitting speeches on critical issues of
our time. He responded to the crisis of
Hurricane Katrina.
Most recently, he is gaining attention for his
new documentary, An Inconvenient Truth,
about the perils of global warming, which has
received its own warm reviews. Now, some people
are even pining for him to return to elective
politics in 2008.
Maybe Gore, the man once belittled for losing
the White House to George W. Bush, is showing
his true colors. Perhaps we saw the first
glimpses of this even amid his crushing defeat,
when he found a way to be gracious and
compelling in his concession.
For me, Gore’s story is a kind of modern-day
fable. Here is a man who was expected to reach
great heights and did. But when he reached for
the prize, he stumbled badly, only to be
ridiculed before millions of people.
What would each of us do in such circumstances?
Many of us might retreat and hide, become
deflated and cynical. It would be easy to stand
up and rail against those who defeated us as a
way to console our own shortcomings or prove
our own mettle.
But we now know that the former vice president
took a different path. He seems to have stopped
long enough to hear his own voice, about what
truly motivates him, which inspired him to step
forward in a new way. Yes, Gore has recently
acknowledged that he would still love to be
president; but he knows, at least for now, that
there are other ways to serve his country. And
the path he has chosen does not seem to be
invented out of whole cloth; nor does it seem
concocted by a public relations guru. Rather,
Gore seems to finally be himself.
After years of ridicule, people are giving Gore
another look. Maybe he has finally come upon
the credibility and trust he has been pursuing
for a lifetime. Strangely enough, he had to
take a different path to find it.
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