For some people, maybe. For me it was before the campaign when he showed up in a bookstore for a book signing for that ridiculous global warming book—without his wedding ring, a shiny whitened dent around his ring finger—and after his talk that evening went partying with a bunch of people I knew from Sierra Club. A few weeks later he announced for President, had the wedding ring back on, and was bending his wife over to kiss her onstage. Creep.
The other thing was, I took a 12-year-old black school child whom I was mentoring to the book signing and sat in the front row. I took the kid up and introduced him after his talk. Algore looked at me like I was out of my mind. I guess his roots betrayed him like a bottle blond's.
The best Algore store is from Courtney Love, Algore went up to her and told her that he was a big fan of hers and he really liked their music. Courtney then asked Al to name one of her songs, and of course, he couldn’t.
Al Gore's book Earth in the Balance was published in 1992 during his run with Bill Clinton as the VP candidate. Still, that doesn't mean he didn't do a book signing for a reprint in 2000 as a campaign stunt, but I don't know.
His book An Inconvenient Truth was published in 2006, midway through George W. Bush's second term.
The Gores separated in 2010, but never divorced. That doesn't mean that he wasn't taking his ring off in 2000 when Tipper wasn't around, but that sloppy kiss during the 2000 DNC convention was a bit creepy.
-PJ