Posted on 11/15/2002 6:58:23 AM PST by alisasny
Excerpt from Barbara Walters interview with Al Gore and family, which airs tonight on 20/20 at 10:00 p.m. ET/9:00 p.m. CT (check your local listings).
The following exchanges, while sure to interest Note readers and historians, actually won't be part of tonight's 20/20 broadcast, so you can read them only here and now:
WALTERS: I'm not sure that people realize that while you were in the residence of the Vice President [during the Florida recount] there were crowds of people outside screaming at you. What was that all about?
AL GORE: Well, this was the Republican response to what was happening during that 36-day period, and they organized busloads of people that came and stood outside the house all day and all night screaming at the top of their lungs.
WALTERS: What, "Get out!"?
TIPPER GORE: Things like that, yes, and, and sometimes … things that we don't want to say on your program, and, some people saw that they were buses from "churches," but it was organized. The one thing that, that they did mainly was reach the bedrooms of our children, and Albert was still in school locally, and trying to study, so we rearranged, you know, they … kids moved to a different part of the house, and I was trying to think of a way that we could kind of laugh about this since obviously it was out of our control, there wasn't anything anybody could do so I got all the boom boxes in the house and … I remember sort of what the government did with Noriega … I thought we'd try that, and I aimed them at, toward, you know, where the crowd …
WALTERS: The crowd?
TIPPER GORE: … And I put nature sounds on and turned it all the way up. And at least the kids laughed.
AL GORE: There were a few, more than a few who supported us and were offended by the organized chanting round the clock who came out on the other street corner during the day to express their support with signs, and … You know, emotions were running high throughout the country and it was just an unprecedented time.
KARENNA GORE: Well, when we were in the Vice President's house during the recount, it was it was very intense. And one of the things I remember is that there was a … an organized effort by, I don't know whether it was the RNC or it was … it was right-wing groups, it was definitely Bush-campaign-oriented effort to bus in people to have a sort of siege at the Vice President's house, and, so, they were all lining there, screaming, and it was kind of an assortment of groups. I mean, some of them were anti, um, were anti-abortion groups, and some of them were pro-gun groups, and some of them … they all had their different signs. But they were all screaming, "Get out of Cheney's house," the whole time. And I just remember being there next to my dad, because I went for a run, and I ran back through them, and I was very upset when I came into the house. And my whole attitude was, like, "We've got to fight back harder. And where are our crowds?" And my dad, I'll never forget his response. He said, "We have to do what's best for the country, and it is not good for the country to have this kind of divisiveness. And he was on the phone, really calling off the dogs. There were people who wanted to fan the … the flames of the racial issue and have real unrest. And he was on the phone asking them not to, because of what was best for the country not because of what was best for him politically. And that's really who he is.
WALTERS: Do you remember the crowds outside screaming?
KRISTEN GORE: The crowds that were screaming outside our house, you know, "Get out of Cheney's house." And other things … of that nature, were really upsetting. It was difficult … It was just very … upsetting that someone would … yell those things at us. It felt … we felt sort of like … trapped in this … you know, little house with all these people yelling mean things. It's no fun. You know, whether you're a child of the person who they're directed at, or anyone else. It … it wasn't a good situation.
WALTERS: Were you scared?
KRISTEN GORE: I was scared that the truth was not going to come out. That's what I was.
After 20/20 and a break for your local news, you can catch Gore on Letterman.
Photos: DC Chapter FReeps the Veep 11/24/00
Photos: Mega Freep At the Veep's House 11/25/00
Jesse Jackson's protest fizzled, probably because he ran out of DNC money.
Also, I think it really frightened them that we were able to get spontaneous volunteers. We had never done that before. They were used to having the streets to themselves.
The other night I had the rare opportunity to sit in (just to listen) a meeting of Florida Democratic operatives and organizers who had worked on the campaigns of House Representatives in Florida, from Katharine Harris’s opponents to Clay Shaw’s rival. (Don’t ask me how I got in, let’s just say that my wife is Democrat)
The group had two camps: the Chicken Little types: “This is terrible, we screwed up badly” and the Eternal Optimists: “We’re only a couple of seats away from a majority in the Senate.”
One of the Chicken Little crowd raised the issue of Tom Delay bussing “paid volunteers” to House districts with competitive races to help with the get-out-the-vote effort. He was contradicted by one of the Eternal Optimists group who said:
You don’t need to bus paid party workers to distant districts. You just hire them locally.(Best of my recollection of the exchange)These bussed people were unpaid passionate Republicans who were very glad to help with the Republican take-over. We failed to energize our base, and we should not assumed that Republicans were as demoralized as we were.”
I guess Democrats were surprised at the spontaneous Republican vigil outside Gore’s residence, so they have to concoct these stories about being orchestrated.
Not only do they think they are the only ones with the right to get up in someone's face about an issue, but on a subconscious level they realize that they have overplayed their hand.
Very good point. I’ve freeped Hillary a few times and you can almost see the rage and fear in the eyes of the liberals.
They’re like “That’s our tactic! How dare you steal it?”
As for Karenna... we'd better watch her. She seems to have all the worst traits of both parents - and she has political ambitions.
I will never forget it.
Plus there house was decorated in 70's junk. The bedroom had this ugly Mediterranean king-size bed with a humongous headboard. The house was very gloomy.
One (1) Radio Shack bullhorn -- $29.95.
Learning that Gore and family are still whining and lying about the protests two years later...
Priceless.
Mind you, all the winning and conceding was done during the wee hours of the morning, but they STILL had enough time to land a planeful of their shills before the sun came up in Florida. Talk about organized!
Exactly. And I agree about "the girl." She's dangerous.
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