It's taken me quite a while to make up my mind about the
Democratic presidential contest. I find Al Gore as discouraging as everybody
else does. Even if you agree with him, imagine trying to work up enthusiasm
for Gore.
I once spent a day with Al Gore off the record, so I know there's a real
human being in there somewhere. Lord knows what happened to it.
Meanwhile, Bill Bradley has been coming up and coming up. It's always been
clear that the man is a class act, without a phony bone in his body.
The trouble is, class acts are a problem in this country. Adlai Stevenson
was a class act, and he lost twice. I've had my political heart broken by
class acts more times than I care to remember. I'm class-act-shy.
Almost every cycle we get some candidate greatly esteemed by those who know
and care a lot about government -- John Anderson, Bruce Babbitt, Paul
Tsongas -- some brainy, professorial type who appeals to some of the media,
all the college kids and practically nobody else. No lunch-bucket appeal.
I long since decided that if the candidate doesn't have some Elvis to him,
he ain't gonna make it. Bradley has zip in the Elvis department.