Mugger: Al Gore, Superstar

A person possessing an inordinate well of charity would probably look at Bob Herbert’s June 5 New York Times op-ed about the perceived tragedy that Al Gore is not currently sitting in the Oval Office and pass on comparing his words to those of David Remnick not long ago in the March 5 New Yorker. After all, it’s not as if Gore (and, incredibly, even John Kerry) fantasies are not unique in the pundit universe.

I’m not quite so generous. Remnick: “It is worse than painful to reflect on how much better off the United States and the world would be today if the outcome of the 2000 election had been permitted to correspond with the wishes of the electorate… [C]an anyone seriously doubt that a Gore Administration would have meant, well, an alternate universe, in which, say, American troops were sent on a necessary mission in Afghanistan but not on a mistaken and misbegotten one in Iraq; the fate of the earth, not the fate of oil-company executives, was the priority of the Environmental Protection Agency; civil liberties and diplomacy were subjects of attention rather than of derision; torture found no place or rationale?”

Herbert: “I find myself speculating on what might have been if the man who got the most votes in 2000 had actually become president. It’s like imagining an alternate universe. The war in Iraq would never have occurred. Support and respect for the U.S. around the globe would not have plummeted to levels that are both embarrassing and dangerous. The surpluses of the Clinton years would not have been squandered like casino chips in the hands of a compulsive gambler on a monumental losing streak.”

Remnick, of course, is a far superior writer than Herbert—a Democrat, slipped a truth serum mickey, might say that the New Yorker editor is Gore to Herbert’s Bush—but he was way off the mark in March just as the Times columnist is this month. That a President Gore, in hock to campaign contributors like any politician, would shun the oil industry in favor of say, Sheryl Crow’s call for Americans to use just one sheet of toilet paper to help save the planet, is wishful thinking. He says that Gore would’ve engaged in an Afghanistan “mission,” yet claims that “torture” in that war wouldn’t exist. Perhaps, although the former vice president who advocated the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in the 1990s, would then be the first U.S. president to ban aggressive interrogation of enemies during wartime. I don’t know if Herbert purposely lifted Remnick’s “alternate universe” conceit, but in any case how does he know that

Gore would not have invaded Iraq? As for the “squandered” surpluses that accompanied the dotcom boom, does Herbert really believe that Gore, facing the same pre-9/11 recession as Bush, and then accompanying fiscal nightmare following the terrorist attacks, could possibly have kept the country’s treasury in the black?

A conservative acquaintance of mine, a well-respected journalist, wrote the other day and predicted that if Gore enters the Democratic race for president—as seems likely, given the delightful internecine squabbles between Clinton, Obama and Edwards—he’d not only win the nomination but deliver a landslide victory for his party some 17 months from now.

Given Gore’s Oscar and Nobel buzz, not to mention 2000 martyrdom, the theory goes that the liberated “recovering politician” would be free to campaign in an entirely different way than in the past. He could be fatter than Michael Moore, make jokes at debates rather than talk down to Americans as if they were fourth-graders and skip the pious lectures to his Hollywood financial benefactors about the violence and coarse language that, in his and Tipper’s view, have irreparably scarred the younger generation.

I don’t think that’s likely and not just because there’s no Republican presidential candidate who’s particularly appealing. McCain’s the best of a bad bunch—at least he doesn’t equivocate on the reality of a long and necessary military presence in the Middle East—considering that Rudy Giuliani’s potential for curtailment of First Amendment rights is downright scary, and Fred Thompson’s pandering to the “no amnesty” for illegal immigrants crowd is probably a deal-breaker in a general election. Nevertheless, should Gore run again, it’s hard to believe he won’t revert to type and follow the strategic scripts given to him by millionaire populist consultants. It’s entirely possible, of course, that conditions next year will make it impossible for any Republican to win, even over the goofy Dennis Kucinich or bombastic Chris Dodd, but history would indicate that Gore is fully capable of blowing a sure victory.

The Sox Can Easily Blow It As a Red Sox fan, it naturally doesn’t bother me at all that the Yanks have experienced a deep funk more than two months into the season, although unlike giddy Boston sportswriters who’ve already proclaimed the ’04 World Series champs as the A.L. East winners, I won’t count out the Bombers until they’re mathematically eliminated. It’s true that Joe Torre has appeared to age this season as rapidly as a U.S. president, Mike Mussina’s washed up and Johnny Damon’s paying the price for playing with throwback abandon for so many years, but the potential for the Yanks to whip off 20 consecutive wins is far greater than, say, the besieged left-wing commentator Eric Alterman forsaking free drinks and buffet snacks for the rest of his natural days.

In fact, as I write the Yanks are on a roll against the bantamweight White Sox while Boston is getting creamed out in Oakland. It’s possible that when this column is online the difference between the two rivals might be just six or so games.

Nevertheless, even if the Steinbrenner squad fails to make the playoffs, one would think the city will survive. But the hysteria is full-blown. In a May 29 Daily News article, reporters Noah Fowle and Dave Goldiner start off: “The Yankees are in free fall, and they are taking the fortunes of many New Yorkers with them.” That would refer to bar owners around the stadium and concessionaires who depend on record attendance numbers—and last time I looked, it’s not as if The House That Jeter Built is empty on game days—to boost their cash flow.

The writers continue: “The damage to the city’s economy—and even its psyche [the Mets count for nothing?]—cuts even deeper. It might not be a coincidence that the Bombers’ bad runs in the ’60s and late ’80s and early ’90s coincided with eras of rising crime and economic stagnation… When the Yankees stumble, the whole city takes it on the chin, in one way or another.”

If the Yanks do fall out of contention, it won’t help out the ticket scalpers or General Manager Brian Cashman, but I imagine the tourism industry, benefiting from the dollar’s low value, will continue to prosper and the economy will rise or fall regardless of whether the team plays in October.

Besides, with youngster Tyler Clippard showing more guts than most Yanks these days—no requisite “Yes, Mr. Torre” for the 22-year-old—the team has a potential front-line pitcher for years to come.