Did you catch Al Gore with David Letterman last night? Dave often strikes me as utterly bored with a guest. It's like, "Okay, come on, tell the pre-planned anecdote, let me screw with you a little, then show the clip and get out." But with his too-infrequent political guests, Letterman sparks to life and asks good, evocative questions. Meet the Press could interrogate one of these guys for the full hour and not get as many timely, direct answers out of a politician as Dave can get in 15-20 minutes. Plus, he gives them the opportunity (though not a lot of help) to be funny.
Gore was. I still think the least encouraging thing you can say about the Democratic Party right now is that he's the front-runner…but with Dave, he was engaging and direct, and if he'd talked like that 30 months ago, all the screwy balloting in Florida couldn't have kept this guy out of the Oval Office. He told the story about the newsfolks who misunderstood a speech of his and (as cited here) reported that he and his wife had opened a low-cost restaurant. Then he praised Bush for certain post-9/11 actions but criticized many other actions in direct, responsible terms. I liked him a lot more on Letterman than I ever did on my ballot.
Why is this? Beats me. Almost without exception, I like these guys more after they've lost an election than when they're out hustling for votes. Bob Dole seemed shifty and it was like he was mouthing G.O.P. talking points he didn't really believe. That was before he went down in flames; after, he was candid and personable. Michael Dukakis turned into a human being in his post-defeat interviews and Walter Mondale spoke with refreshing honesty about the whole demeaning election process. We never really saw those sides of them before Election Day.
There was one moment in last night's interview when Gore seemed evasive, though any politician would have given the same answer. Letterman asked if another White House run was in the offing and the former Veep said just what you'd expect him to say: That it's too early, that he hasn't made up his mind, etc. (He also had a great line about how his family has already voted on the issue and he's recounting the ballots.) Of course he'll run if he thinks he has a chance, and he probably does. Which means we've got about another year of Al Gore being open and affable in interviews before he throws his hat in the ring and becomes guarded and stiff again.