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She's running! She's not! It's Tipper Time (Briefly) in TennesseeBy Rick Horowitz
If I'm Tipper Gore -- I'm not -- I'm feeling pretty good about things right now. I've transformed my identity. Heightened my visibility. Enhanced my influence. And of course, I've finally gotten rid of Mr. Furry-Face. Not bad for a few days' work. You ask most people how they spent their weekend, they'll tell you they went to a movie. They cleaned out the attic. Something like that. Tipper Gore ran for the United States Senate. It was nothing official, mind you. And before most people knew she was even thinking about it, she had thought better of it and pulled the plug. Tipper's Boomlet -- gone in a Nashville nanosecond. But wasn't it fun while it lasted? There she was last Thursday, just going about her business as the devoted spouse of a former vice president and a former presidential candidate and a possible future presidential candidate. (That's not polygamy, that's politics.) Her own political ambitions, everyone assumed, could be summed up in two words: First Lady. And even that was a guess. Her guy came so close, but failed so excruciatingly, last time; did she really want him to toss himself into the trauma patch all over again? That was Thursday. By Friday, the word was out, and the twittering classes were all a-twitter: Tipper might run! For the Senate seat that Fred Thompson's giving up! She's really considering it! Have you ever heard of such a thing?! Well, yes. There was the rather prominent precedent of the junior senator from New York, one Hillary Rodham Clinton. Mrs. C. was a high-profile wife who'd never run for public office either, until she decided to start at -- well, near -- the top. Of course, everyone knew all along that Hillary was no shrinking violet; Tipper had a much softer image. On the other hand, unlike the Clintons, the Gores actually had some connection to the state the missus was hoping to represent. Not that that sort of thing deterred Hillary, of course. (And not that Al's Tennessee ties were enough to carry the state in 2000, when carrying the state would have been enough to...you know.) Anyway, as the weekend came and the word spread, people considered the prospect of a Tipper Gore candidacy and they said, "Why not?" She had name recognition. She had people skills. She had her issues. She could raise the money. And suddenly she wasn't just the devoted spouse; she was a political force in her own right. She might help decide whether the Democrats kept control of the Senate, or the Republicans snatched it back. Even her husband seemed pleased. On Sunday, to demonstrate his support, he shaved off that salt-and-pepper mish-mash of a beard he grew last summer. (A personality transplant might have been even more helpful than clean cheeks, but it's so hard to find a new personality on a Sunday.) Tipper was starting to look like a real possibility -- except that she wasn't the only Democrat who wanted the job. Congressman Bob Clement wanted it, too, and Clement had already lined up plenty of supporters, including the state's entire Democratic congressional delegation. He had no intention of backing off and giving Tipper a free shot at the nomination. Which meant that a Tipper run would have ignited an intra-party battle. And an intra-party battle would have done Tipper's fence-mending husband no good at all if he decided to try for the White House again in 2004. It was a perfectly good reason not to run. There may have been others. On Sunday, she said no. A Senate campaign was "not right for me, right now," she announced. And on Monday, she stood -- smiling, clapping -- right behind Clement as he declared his candidacy. She kept smiling and clapping even when Clement pledged never to lose sight of his roots or forget where he came from, which is precisely what people had said about her husband as they voted for George Bush in 2000, when carrying the state would have been enough to...you know. So she said no, for now. She didn't say no for always. In the meantime, people will have to pay attention; she's a much bigger player this week than she was last week. And she found a way to get rid of that beard! Or was that the idea all along? Posted 3/21/02. Get
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Rick Horowitz
