CNBC Press Releases

DEUTSCH: Does it exist on Tsunami Tuesday right before?

Mr. GORE: I don't think so. I don't think so.

DEUTSCH: Really? OK. And when all the folks--the Steve Jobs who want to get your business in a little bit, and the Jon Bon Jovis, take you, as Tipper says, to the walks in the woods, put their arm around you, `Come on, big guy, we need ya,' everybody thinks about it this way, all the big shots, all the big swinging guys are, what do you say? What's their pitch and then what do you say to them?

Mr. GORE: Well, you know, again, I appreciate that. I really do. I'm humbled by it. That's not a word that, you know, I just throw out that way.

DEUTSCH: Yeah.

Mr. GORE: And I mean, I tell them just what I've told you, is that I'm involved in this different kind of campaign, and it feels like the right thing to do, Donny, it really does. You know, I had the experience of working in the White House for eight years as vice president. Now, being vice president's very different from being president. You can't set the agenda, you can't, you know, you can't just define the message. And--but President Clinton was really respectful in taking my advice on the global environment. I mean, I couldn't make it the centerpiece of everything. But I was close enough to that ability to see what the resistance in the Congress meant.

I went to Kyoto. I was so happy when we got that breakthrough there. I came back. I could only convince one senator out of 100 to vote for ratification. More of them would if it got to that point. Now, many more of them would. But the reason they didn't feel like they could is that the people at the grassroots level were not seeing this as something that really justified making big changes. And it's true that no position has the influence or potential as the--that the position of president has. It's also true that the people still in the driver's seat are the American people.

DEUTSCH: Mm-hmm.

Mr. GORE: And that's what I'm putting my focus on. And people in the rest of the world, because if you can change that, then whoever is elected will face that pressure to do the right thing.

DEUTSCH: Why is it, along those lines, in business, and you've talked about this, that the very thing that business rewards, thinking forward, even with your current TV, what you're doing to your investment fund, very different looks at things...

Mr. GORE: Yeah.

DEUTSCH: ...is rewarded. And in politics, it's the ultimate head wind?

Mr. GORE: Yeah.

DEUTSCH: Why is that?

Mr. GORE: Well, I think partly because the political system has become overly focused on the messaging techniques to the exclusion of the substance. When...(unintelligible)...early in my business career, which is of short longevity, it's been fun, I love business. I absolutely love business.

Tools:

PrintEmail

Back to Main Page