Tipper: Al's Defeat Drove Me to Shrink

NewsMax.com ^ | 7/01/02 | Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff

[kattracks]

Former second lady Tipper Gore was so shaken by her husband's failure to win the White House two years ago that she sought psychiatric counseling to reassure herself she wasn't mentally ill.

On Friday Mrs. Gore told the Memphis Commercial Appeal that the Supreme Court's decision to stop the 2000 election's Florida recount left her in "a state of shock."

"It took me a while to work my way out of that," she explained. "I couldn't believe that the voting would be stopped."

Her husband's defeat, coupled with the October 2001 death of her mother, Margaret Ann Aitcheson, sent Mrs. Gore into such a severe emotional tailspin that by the end of last year she began to doubt her own sanity.

Gore told the Appeal that she checked with her doctor to make sure she wasn't suffering a relapse of the mental illness she suffered after her son Albert was hit by a car in 1989.

"Am I clinically depressed?" the first lady wannabe said she asked point-blank.

The doctor told her, "No, this is a normal response to what happens in tough times," she recalled.

Still, the Gores decided to take a seven-week vacation to Spain, Italy and Greece, during which Mrs. Gore managed to regain her emotional stability.

But the revelation of his wife's second bout with possible mental illness has some wondering whether former Vice President Al Gore might be forced to shelve plans for another White House run to spare his wife further mental anguish.

Mrs. Gore's late mother also battled mental illness her entire life.

During the 2000 campaign, Tipper Gore traveled with her husband only three or four days a week, explaining that she needed the remainder of the week "to recover."

In 1999, after revealing her first bout with depression, she acknowledged that stress on the campaign trail could cause a relapse.

"It is something that I am aware of," she told Newsweek. "I now know my limits. I have in my younger years, in my 40s, been overextended. I don't want to do that again."

Mrs. Gore continued:

"I am going to try to continue to make sure that as I go through my life I know how I perform the best and what my limits are and be sure that I design my schedule and my life that way."

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Al Gore
DNC

[sunshine state]

Does anyone else think it's weird that she doesn't mention that 9-11 might have been a factor in her depression? Sort of like Clinton with his dog dying being the most depressing that happened to him last year. What is it with these people?

[Mo1]

Perhaps it was sitting at home with the family at dinner and hearing "GET OUT OF CHENEY'S HOUSE" echoing through the house that caused her the mental trouble

No No .. that was little eGore that admitted to that problem ..

Not good PR admitting that the whole family are nut cases ..

RUN AL RUN!!!

[Constitutional_Republican]

I am SO glad he isn't the president.

[ladyinred]

LOL! Since when did depression become "mental illness" instead of just plain normal having a bad week? Good grief, I question her mental stability too, for being married to the tree for so long. What a whiner.
Couldn't believe they'd stop the voting, yeah right Tippsey!

[gonzo]

Good Grief! Does this twit really think that victimhood will garner votes in 2004?

hildabeaste is gonna have her 'Fostered'! Ole Crusty need the victim-crap for herself..........FRegards

[ladyinred]

Mental illness is indeed nothing to joke about, I agree with you. However, depression is not mental illness in any sense of the word, this is just another PC liberal excuse for a normal condition we have all faced at one time or another.

The difference is some of us pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and start all over again as the saying says. We have too many "illnesses" these days that are really just part of the human experience. Calling every "mood'"a mental illness is degrading to those who really have one. Who wouldn't be depressed after your child almost dies? Who wouldn't be depressed when you lost an election? This is normal, not an illness.

[InvisibleChurch]

but you know that had the AL2000 been elected, then you would NEVER hear a word of her mental state from the "respected" media, but any leaks wouild be denounced as rightwingrhetoric as well as "destructive" character assassination...(as opposed to "constructive" character assassination)

[Semi Civil Servant]

"I couldn't believe that the VOTING would be stopped."

Shouldn't that be she couldn't believe the "COUNTING" would be stopped?

Freud might make something of this. So might anyone who really investigated certain Democrat Florida election judges.

[TejasRose]

i think her blouse speaks oodles regarding her muntal state

Uh, I think eGore needs a bra!!

[DennisR]

"It took me a while to work my way out of that," she explained. "I couldn't believe that the voting would be stopped."

Tipper, honey, it was THE LAW in Florida. You know, the "controlling legal authority" of which you husband seems to know nothing. It was not personal, it was just THE LAW. Which is how this country normally runs when the Lib-Com-Soc-Dems are not in power.

[DennisR]

"...and proving that you're worthy of the job..."

Because he was not, is not, and never will be.

[DennisR]

Man, it's going to be tough sleeping tonight after seeing that picture!!!

[DennisR]

No, she probably meant voting. The Dems have never been ashamed to vote early and often. They do not even let the dead rest! :)

[Andy from Beaverton]

Looks like AlG needs a bra.

[kattracks]

ping

[Brad’s Gramma]

YUCH!!!!!

[Conservababe]

Can't you just picture them in bed. Algore is telling Tipper "up is up and down is down". LOL

[bootless]

"I couldn't believe that the voting would be stopped."

Dear Tipper,

You seem like a nice lady, if misguided, and with horrible taste in men. At least you detested Hellary! and Billy Jeff. Gotta give you that.

But my dear, the voting stopped at 8 p.m. local in each precinct on Election Night. Except in St. Louis, where a corrupt judge let it continue for another couple of hours, against all election laws.

yours truly,

A citizen who voted before 8 p.m. on Election Night, (and who was relieved that the vote-inventing was finally stopped.)

[Mark17]

For if Algore had won, millions of us would have been driven to visit shrinks.

Do you suppose there are a lot of out of work shrinks, who are relishing a Demon Cat victory in 2004?

[Sabertooth]

You know, I'm sorry to see this. I just don't have it in my heart to have a bad feeling for Tipper. From the start, she was the only one of the Clinton/Gores that came across as pleasant and human.

Sorry that she got mixed up with that crowd.