http://class.timesfreepress.com/ShowStoryT...4&Section=FrontWASHINGTON — Freed from the straitjacket of political office, an increasingly fiery Al Gore of Tennessee will go before the Democratic National Convention tonight to provide what friends and observers predict will be a rousing call to the party’s faithful for this year’s contest.
"I think he’ll try to rally the troops to energize them and to get them out to vote," said longtime Gore friend Johnny Hayes, a Tennessean who headed the Gore 2000 campaign’s national fundraising effort. "What we’ve got to do is just get the same number that we got out last time, and we’ll win this thing. I think it’ll be an energizing speech — and he can give a good speech."
Many Democrats said they are looking forward to seeing Mr. Gore, whom presumed 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry tapped to speak. Mr. Gore won the popular vote in 2000 but narrowly lost the Electoral College when the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in and halted Democratic efforts to recount votes in Florida. Mr. Gore decided in late 2002 not to run again.
"I think it’s a great decision to allow him to speak, if for no other reason than to ensure that there’s some focus on what happened in 2000, to remind people," said Donna Brazile, who managed the Gore 2000 campaign.
Carter Eskew, a longtime senior Gore political adviser who speaks regularly with Mr. Gore, said he expects the former vice president’s speech will provide a "really important bridge between the two elections and a way of focusing a lot of people — Democrats and independents — on the future by saying, ‘Look, every vote counts.’ There is no more powerful messenger of that in a potentially very close election."
Republican National Committee spokeswoman Lindsay Tayl or was unimpressed.
"What you are seeing is the Democrats’ attempt at an extreme makeover, and next week the convention in Boston will serve as the Democrats’ great salon. But Al Gore is still Al Gore," Ms. Taylor said Friday. "And John Kerry is a far-left duckling who hopes to emerge from the convention as a centrist swan. Folks may not recognize what emerges each day next week but we’ll be ready to point out the real record."
Kerry spokesman Anthony Coley said Mr. Gore "has dedicated his life to building a stronger America. It's appropriate that such a respected leader of our party and country play a visible role as we unite behind John Kerry's vision to build an America that is strong at home and respected in the world."
Political analyst Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Report, said today’s speech will be "the most important time" for Mr. Gore’s contribution to Democrats’ 2004 ticket.
"He will be there to rally the Democrats that are disaffected at Bush, who feel the election was stolen, remind them about how important these elections are and how close they can be," he said.
Tagged as "wooden" and overly cautious on the stump during a 24-year career in elected office Mr. Gore has delighted Democratic partisans, infuriated Republicans and surprised observers in speeches since he emerged after a post-election year of silence.
For example, this spring, he called for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and several other top Bush administration officials to resign over U.S. policy in Iraq and the scandals of the Abu Ghraib prison. Last month, he accused President Bush of "intentionally misleading" Americans by asserting links between al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein.
His speeches occasionally are peppered with shouts, reminiscent of a Southern evangelist seeking to stoke up the congregation. At one point in his life prior to running for public office, he attended divinity school.
Such performances had the Republican National Committee’s press office last month emailing reporters a "research" paper declaring Mr. Gore has "anger management issues."
The e-mail cited a column by conservative pundit Morton Kondracke charging that Mr. Gore is "clearly out of control of his words." Republicans quoted the Washington Post’s neoconservative pundit Charles Krauthammer saying on "Fox News" in May that "it looks as if Al Gore has gone off his lithium again."
Ms. Brazile countered that Republicans are playing a political game in which officials "demonize those you disagree with."
Democrats and Mr. Gore’s friends, meanwhile, said Mr. Gore is having the time of his life. He serves as a senior adviser to Google Inc., the Internet search engine, and as a board member of Apple Computers Inc. He has been involved in the purchase of a cable network.
"There’s no question about it," Mr. Eskew said of Mr. Gore’s decision not to run for president again. "I think it has liberated him."
Mr. Hayes has known Mr. Gore since he first ran for a U.S. House seat in 1976 as the son of a U.S. senator who spent years grooming his son for the presidency.
"I think he’s having fun," Mr. Hayes said. "This is the first time in his life that he hasn’t been in a glass jar with people looking at him every day."
Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Randy Button said he expects Mr. Gore to be active following the convention.
"I think he can help a lot with motivating the base which is going to be extremely important in this election," said Mr. Button, who predicted Mr. Gore "is going to be very active in Tennessee."
Mr. Gore lost Tennessee in 2000. State Democrats argue Mr. Gore’s national campaign didn’t pay enough attention while Republicans counter that that the state trends Republican. It is not considered a battleground state so far in 2004. We ldon Markham, a delegate from Chattanooga, wasn’t sure whether Mr. Gore will be doing much after the convention.
"I don’t see much of a role for Al in this election," he said.
During Mr. Gore’s speech, at least some Democrats will be thinking about what might have been had Mr. Gore won Tennessee, let alone Florida and the Electoral College.
" think in many ways he’s seen as a tragic figure," said Bill Owen, a Democratic National Committee member from Knoxville. "He did receive more votes than any Democrat has ever received, received more votes than the sitting president, and yet the election was taken from him when the Supreme Court halted the Florida vote" recount.
Staff Writer John Commins contributed to this report.
E-mail Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com