Title: Tipper Gore in town
Description: Proceeds go to The Climate Project
Description: Proceeds go to The Climate Project
AlGoreFan - May 9, 2008 07:28 AM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| Tipper Gore in town By Neil Vigdor Tipper Gore isn't tipping her hand. The woman who stood to become first lady in 2000, if not for a few hanging chads, said in an interview last night that she and her famous husband aren't ready yet to endorse either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. Gore, 59, was in Greenwich for the opening of the new Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams home furnishings store at 45 E. Putnam Ave. and to promote her photography collection. "We are neutral," Gore said. "Each one of these people are our friends." Despite the 4-month slugfest between Clinton and Obama, Gore is confident that the party would come together to support the eventual nominee against Republican John McCain. Democrats, she said, are very purposeful on getting the country back on a different track than the one it has been on for nearly eight years under the Bush administration. "We're quite famous for having our primary fights and then getting behind the nominee," said Gore, who is friends with the store's two owners and namesakes. A photographer for The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville before her husband was elected to Congress in 1976, Gore later used her access as the vice president's wife to capture historic events, exotic destinations and slices of Americana with her trusty 35 mm camera. Gore's subjects included scenes from the Smith County Fair in Tennessee, Russian ballerinas, a Galapagos Islands tortoise in the sand, a lion park in Botswana and a river on the Gore family farm in Carthage, Tenn., featured in Al Gore's 2006 Oscar-winning documentary on climate change "An Inconvenient Truth." Another historic image captured by the former second lady shows then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Leader Yasser Arafat shaking hands on the White House lawn in 1993 to announce a peace accord. "I was in the front row," Gore said. Proceeds from the sale of Gore's photos, which were displayed on the walls of the new home furnishing store, will go to The Climate Project. Al Gore started the Nashville-based organization with a group of scientists in 2006 to raise awareness about climate change. Tipper Gore met Mitchell Gold in the late 1990s, when he served as chairman of a human rights campaign dinner in his home state of North Carolina. The two have been friends ever since, with the former second lady helping to open of several of his 21 home furnishing stores. "We really think this is very much our market," Gold said. "We make furniture that's really oriented towards families." About 400 people were expected last night to help christen the new 5,500-square-foot store, which occupies the former Razook's retail space. Many sipped on scotch and noshed on finger foods such as slider hamburgers and corn dogs, listening to musical selections played by a drag queen disc jockey. Touting itself as an eco-friendly brand that uses some recycled materials in some of its products, the store sells furniture, lighting, rugs, photography, accessories and fabrics. Earthen tones and subtle colors such as celadon green accent many of the pieces of furniture. "We like rooms that are really soothing when you walk in," Williams said. Although the two men are friendly with Gore, they said they weren't likely to press her for any secrets concerning Obama and Clinton. "Some things we talk about, but not that," Williams said. Politics might run in her family's blood, but Gore said she hasn't been keeping as close an eye on the back-and-forth between Clinton and Obama as one might think. On calls for Clinton to drop out of the race by some party leaders, Gore said, "I think any decision about anything like that is personal." Gore said she prefers to spend her time reconnecting with old friends she fell out of touch with, concentrating on her love of photography and visiting with her four children and three grandchildren. This weekend she will watch her grandchildren in New York City while her daughter and son-and-law move into a new place. As for what might have been in 2000, when her husband won the popular vote but lost the controversial election, Gore said she doesn't dwell on the past. "How healthy is that?" she said. |
Wayne in WA State - May 9, 2008 08:03 AM (GMT)
You go Tipper :good:
Patsy - May 9, 2008 04:00 PM (GMT)
Tipper , like Al, is very careful with what she says about the candidates. She said, "We are friends of both." Al Gore will need both when he becomes the nominee. He will take as his vice-president the winner of Obama and Hillary contest. Which I believe will be Obama. That will be a ticket that will unite the flock.
Alpha Gore Omega - May 10, 2008 05:51 AM (GMT)
I agree Patsy - Tipper is very careful and I cant help but think she knows something.