Tipper Stumps For Team Nation’s Second Lady Bashes Republicans, Boosts V-Chip, Brightens Day For Democratic Supporters
The 1996 presidential campaign sprang to life in Spokane on Monday in the shape of Tipper Gore’s festive smile.
About 200 giddy Democrats crammed into a Ridpath Hotel ballroom to welcome the nation’s second lady, the wife of Vice President Al Gore.
As she stepped on stage, Secret Service agents studied the throng and rock music filled the room, giving the rally the raucous feel of a victory party.
Gore expressed White House sympathy to flood victims - noting they were in the Gores’ and Clintons’ prayers - but most of her brief speech was campaign talk.
“We are counting on you here in Washington state to produce a victory for us,” she told people wearing Clinton-Gore buttons.
“The right-wing Republican Congress has a vision that cuts everything right out from beneath people whether they deserve it or not,” she warned.
Her biggest laugh came when she characterized the GOP health-care stance as backward. “I thought we were going to (the year) 2000, not 1850.”
She also tried to pry the family values platform from the Republicans. “It’s time to not just talk about family values, but truly value them.”
Gore’s first and only other Spokane stop Monday was at Volunteers of America on Second Avenue.
“She’s walking in from this direction,” a Gore staffer explained to a line of social services activists waiting in the building’s basement. “She’ll shake Monica’s hand first.”
Gore came in smiling and shook Monica’s hand first, then took a seat beside children and parents involved in Breakthrough for Families, a federal program that provides families with an advocate to find services and counseling.
Rebekah Durham, 15, told Gore she was destined for a life of drug dealing and prison until a Breakthrough worker saved her.
“He made me feel like I was an actual person,” she said. “If it wasn’t for him I’d probably be in juvie for a long time. I live like an angel compared to my past.”
Gore smiled. “This holistic wraparound approach is what’s needed,” she said.
In an interview, Gore said her greatest accomplishment as second lady has been as the president’s mental health adviser. “I’ve helped raise the level of awareness of mental health as an illness.”
Well-known for her criticism of indecent rock and rap lyrics, Gore now supports the so-called “V-chip” plan. The new technology would help parents program televisions so that they can dictate what shows their children can see. Gore left the stage shaking hands, smiling, winking her movie-star blue eyes, as a dour Secret Service agent followed inches behind her. Then she headed for another campaign stop in Phoenix.
Shirley Valentine was delighted with Gore’s performance. “I was just glad to shake her hand and see her,” she said. “It was a thrill.”
But Steve Hall, a Gonzaga University freshman, looked disappointed. “It was very, very brief,” he said of the speech. “We want to hear some more details on what their ideas are.”
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo