In a "classic" article originally published in the National Review back in 1999 but republished this week in honor of Al Gore’s speech to MoveOn, Rick Brookhiser points out that Al Gore is not entirely stable. And he doesn’t have the best delivery for speeches.
He is stiff as a railroad tie. Recently there have been a number of politicians with odd body language — Gerald Ford, George Bush — but Gore is uniquely dense and inert. His debate with Dan Quayle in 1992 was a typical performance. When making debater’s points he swung his upper body heavily towards Quayle, like a de-mothballed gun turret. His face, whether speaking or listening, had the glazed look of a gaffed fish. When he tries to be more animated, the effect is painful, reminiscent of the Monster in Young Frankenstein singing "Puttin’ on the Ritz."
I’ve always enjoyed the "Puttin’ on the Ritz" scene in Young Frankenstein. That makes a good illustration for an Al Gore speech except that the Monster is much less wooden in its delivery.
I still recall a speech Al Gore gave on data delivery through optical cables. He had a fiber optic cable in his hand and a table of books in front of the podium. He said in his scripted tone, "We can transmit all this" (sweep right hand across the table of books) "through this" (hold up optical cable in left hand) "in one second" (hold up right hand with index finger raised indicating one). Repeat a second time for emphasis. It was so stilted as to be humorous, but he did exactly what his coaches told him to do. It just wasn’t natural or flowing.
Gore’s physical rigidity is periodically enlivened by rhetorical frenzies. Louis Menand wrote in a New Yorker profile that Gore has, as a public speaker, "only two dials on the console: speed and volume. To convey gravity, he slows down; to convey urgency, he gets louder." He can bellow like Jesse Jackson or Louis Farrakhan, but unlike them, there is no crescendo: The triple forte simply pops out of nowhere.
If we want to continue movie comparisons, Brookhiser could have compared Al Gore’s volume dial to Spinal Tap’s specially made amplifier volume that goes up to eleven when other band’s amplifiers only go up to ten. But perhaps needing to go to a volume of eleven wasn’t applicable back in 1999. That was before Dean’s "scream heard around the world". Now Gore is trying to out Dean Dean, and it is working about as well for him as it did for good old Howard.
Can’t you just imagine Al Gore saying in his serious voice, while thrusting his pointed index finger for emphasis on each word, "Putting … on … the … Ritz!" I think the Monster could do it better.
