Anyone who didn't know that in 1988 was either not very sharp or didn't keep up with politics.
Tell it to everyone I heard back then saying he was at least a moderate, if not conservative, Democrat. I mean, at least in his public statements. Certainly he may have pulled the wool over lots of people's eyes. But the "88 Gore" was nothing like the "00 Gore" in the minds of many voters.
Which must have been most of the South, since they went with him on "Super Tuesday"....including my mother.