“The Man is sitting on one of those dandy green recliners sipping coffee, and he’s got Tip perched carefully on the left arm of the chair. She’s sipping tea and her butt must hurt from balancing on the arm, but like a trooper she remains on that damn chair’s arm for the first interview and three more like it.”
That description of Al and Tipper Gore doing television interviews was written on Oct. 29 by New York Post reporter Vincent Morris, but it never ran in his paper. Rather, it was a “pool report” written for his colleagues.
Many Gore and George W. Bush campaign events are too small for the entire traveling press corps to attend en masse. Instead, individual reporters cover them on a rotating basis and write up reports for their colleagues to incorporate into their articles.
The reports are often vivid and honest, written by journalists for each other instead of directly for publication. Many never make it into print because they describe unimportant events, but they can be revealing, small-scale portraits of Gore and Bush and their campaigns, with the power of candid snapshots.
A sample follows:
A scene aboard the vice president’s plane Nov. 1, as described by Jim Gerzenstang of the Los Angeles Times:
“As Air Force 2 taxied at Orlando, the vice president appeared in shirt and tie, forward of the press and Secret Service cabins, orange in hand, and tried airplane-aisle bowling. The results: two attempts struck the area around the lavatory door, hooking to the left; two got tangled up in the luggage stays beneath the seats in the Secret Service cabin.
“Each time, the orange, getting soggier on each attempt, was sent back toward the VP. His fifth attempt, just as the plane taxied into place for take-off, was true, rolling straight down the aisle, perfectly centered. It would have made it to the galley had it not been snagged by a passenger in the back row.”
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An improptu Gore stop at a Michigan elementary school Oct. 30, as seen by Bill Adair of the St. Petersburg Times, Gary Martin of the San Antonio Express and Jon Sawyer of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
“`Does anybody want to give me a high five?’ Gore asked, before moving down the rows of kids, slapping skin. Some were clearly thrilled. `I’m never going to wash my hand,’ said Christopher Hotz, 9, a 4th-grader. Several children indicated their brush with Gore would lead to a decline in personal hygiene. `I’m not going to wash my hand,’ said Heather Goss, 10. Asked how her hand felt, she said, `It feels wonderful. I’m a new woman.'”
“Veep waded into the crowd of kids. Veep says: `Who wants to give my wife Tipper a high five?’ Small-kid crowd surges around Tipper. She gamely responds but gives the Veep a look and `Thanks, Al.'”
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This report came from Terry M. Neal of the Washington Post just before the Republican convention:
“George W. Bush stepped on the plane this morning a little after 9 a.m., accompanied by his wife, Laura, and Montana Gov. Mark Racicot. The governor, as he usually does before the plane takes off, walked down the aisle joking with reporters and uttering platitudes…. His only extended comments came in response to a question from one of the very fine Texas scribes, who asked Bush how his convention speech was coming along.
“`I’m really looking forward to this speech,’ Bush said. `This is going to be an unbelievably interesting moment in my life, to walk out on that stage and speak from my heart for however long it takes to get through the speech.’
“Another reporter asked if there was anything the American people should know about him that they didn’t already know.
“`I don’t know,’ Bush said. `That’s your job.'”
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Gore stopping at a West Virginia family’s house Oct. 24 for a “kitchen table” visit, as described by Vincent Morris, the New York Times’ Kevin Sack and Time’s Eric Roston:
“The Veep never made it inside to the Gozas’ kitchen table, choosing instead to talk on the steps while the three adults nursed mugs of coffee. As they spoke, [their son] Ian sat on the steps looking profoundly bored, somewhat like your pool. At one point, photogs caught him picking his nose, right about the time Gore mentioned health care.
“To no one’s surprise, this event was purely for the pictures. The snippets that were audible were somewhat south of riveting. Gore to Ian: `Ian, you’re really already in kindergarten?’ Gore, picking a rubber Halloween spider from a planter of yellow chrysanthemums: `Yikes! That’s scary.'”
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A report from Fayettville, Ark., by Terry Neal:
“The governor arrived this morning at the Bernice Jones Center for Families at about 11:20 a.m. and proceeded to a room in the front of the building where a couple hundred people waited. He and [Dick] Cheney quickly worked the rope line. Next [they] took a quick tour of the center’s computer center. One of the first people to greet Bush was Charles A. Huffer, who tightly gripped the governor’s hand while he talked to him. Bush look befuddled and brushed him off quickly. Your pooler asked Huffer afterward what he said to Bush.
“`I told him that I thought he had a real good chance to be president and I asked him if he would be willing to finally tell the American people the truth about unidentified flying objects,’ said Huffer, 61, of Springdale, whose business card lists him as `state section director’ of the Mutual UFO Network, Inc. `Dick Cheney has been the defense secretary so he already has the inside track. I just want them to tell the American people the truth.’
Huffer said Bush nodded and responded, `OK'”
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Adair, Martin and Sawyer on Gore wading through a crowd on a Michigan beach:
“`Mr. Vice President, you need to hug your wife again,’ a woman called out, and he did. `We need to see that kiss again!’ said another. At first Gore demurred. `I can’t persuade her to do it all the time.’ But the crowd insisted, and so they did — a lip lock estimated at approximately two seconds, or well below the L.A. norm.”
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From Saginaw, Mich., a Nov. 3 report from Edwin Chen, covering Bush for the Los Angeles Times:
“After [a] Fox News interview, Gov. Bush went for a run on the track of Saginaw Valley State U. He was accompanied by Mark McKinnon. They were trailed by two agents, who were about three paces back. Governor had the inner-most lane; Mark the adjacent one. Ground rule: no fotos. They evidently did no warmups (i.e., stretching). After one lap, Bush yelled to pool: `What’re you — timing us? Start now.’
“A lap or two later, the governor’s brow glistened with perspiration as long shadows began to creep across the track. A few more laps, he could be heard puffing as he went by. Afterward, the governor reported his time: 22:20.
“It was windy, and afterward, as he paced in small circles to cool down, Bush took note of that fact, saying:
“`It’s not bad except right here,’ pointing to the U-shaped turn in the track, when the runners came into a headwind each time.”
