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Al Gore's "Dialing for Dollars Blues"

Al Gore
Friday, August 29th 1997: You know it's a slow news month when the mainstream media, who know better, begin to attack the Vice President for making fundraising calls from his office... again. My reaction? A big SO WHAT?

As far as I'm concerned the Veep should only be embarrased by how little money his phone calls raised. I mean $695 thousand isn't much compared to the hundreds of millions spent by the major parties last year.

Of course, I like Al Gore. I've known him since 1984. I've chatted with him a few times. I've never contributed to his campaigns directly, but I have attended Clinton-Gore fundraisers, big and small. The last time I saw Al Gore was at Pamela Harriman's MIddleberg, Virginia farm. I knew a lot of people in that tent. To my knowledge, none of them was there to get a favor from Gore. They were there for one of two reasons. First - dearly missed Pamela Harriman put on a great show, and; Second, the function that was "the place to be" that evening. Pamela's little "do" probably raised a couple of million dollars. She was no slouch when it came to attracting big bucks.

I relate this story to underscore that most people who give money to politicians really do contribute for policy reasons. A glance at VIce President Gore's "call sheets" -- recently published by CNN's allpolitics.com -- will show you that contributors give, or don't give money based not on what they can get personally, but on things like gay rights or partial birth abortion.

Sure, some cynical businesspeople try to control the impact of governemnt on their companies. Some individuals pay off senators for special tax treatment aimed only at them. But the majority of wealthy political players give simply to "play." They give to politicians and political parties to be seen, to wear that new dress, to hob-nob with the powerful. Similar, really, to the underlying reasons why the same people fork over $10,000 a plate to attend a "gotta-be-there" charity ball.

But back to Al Gore.

One would think that Gore has committed political suicide because he chose to make some calls to people he knew for money. You read it every day. Yesterday, even the New York Times editors got on his case. I suppose that made them feel better. But if the New York Times was forced to give politicians ad space -- free of charge -- they'd be making his calls themselves.

Television and radio pundits are even worse. Here they are, preaching to Mr. and Mrs. America about the horror of big money in politics while all the time collecting a million to twenty million a year in undeservedly high salaries for sitting on their behinds and pontificating beyong patience. Funny thing though -- I've seen them all at one political bash or another -- and they weren't there to "cover" the scene.

The fact that Gore charged all the calls to a Democrat Party credit card is not the point, although most journalists would have you believe that it is. Now we have a new big blow because the DNC recently reimbursed the government for $24.20 for calls Gore ostensibly made, but were not on his credit card. Oh my!

Dick Gephardt
One thing I know, and you sense, is that Al Gore is not a guy who's comfortable raising money. And it's not Gore who designed a system that requires this kind of cash to run for office. One look at Republican coffers and one might be convinced that it is they who maintain the system inasmuch as the RNC is the biggest beneficiary of the status quo -- outraising the Democrats by tens of millions each election cycle.

You have to just laugh out loud at over-coiffed Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson's statement -- "Yet again, we discover that Vice President Albert Gore has not been telling the truth. Gore's excuse -- that there was 'no controlling legal authority' -- was flimsy when first uttered. Since then, the vice president's credibility has steadily eroded."

Well, Gores polls are as good as ever and he's still sure to clinch the nomination in 2000.

I'll tell you what. If I had a dime for every dollar raised by Republican congressmen from their own offices -- and at taxpayer's expense -- I'd be a billionairre.
Gore has already conceded his fund-raising calls from government offices have raised enough concern that he won't make any more of them. Gore said he was advised there was nothing wrong with the practice, but he also points out that the president and vice president are exempt from the Hatch Act, which bars other federal employees from soliciting political contributions -- and he's right.

The Washington Post once reported that some people he called felt "shaken down" by his appeal for funds. I have news for the Post -- everyone feels a bit shaken down when asked for money, especially from someone they care about or someone they want to crush.

The mainstream press is encouraging some of Gore's Democratic rivals for the nod in 2000. After all, that'll make for a better story come the millenium.

One expects that should Dick Gephardt, John Kerry or even Bill Bradley "smell blood" over this issue they will pounce on what's called "a developing opportunity" -- to be the Democrat nominee for president.

I challenge these over-stuffed pundits to stand up and say "What the heck's the difference if the Vice President calls for help from the White House or a pay phone on "K" Street. It's all just partisan pap designed to confuse an already confused electorate."

© 1998, 1997, American Politics Journal Publications Inc.