Rebutting that fatuous notion, which is actually bandied about in affluent left-wing salons on both coasts of the United States, is the arrival of “Joined at the Heart,” as cynical and simplistic book as has ever been published. The Gores’ condescending examination of how the American family has evolved since the 1960s fails miserably on two levels. First, there’s absolutely nothing revelatory in its 417 tedious pages; second, as a campaign tool for the former vice president’s expected 2004 challenge to George W. Bush, the book can’t possibly produce a single vote that he didn’t win two years ago. As...