Did you notice that Al Gore appeared more relaxed and happy during his concession speech than at any other time during his presidential campaign?

I would argue that he WAS, in fact, happier at that point then perhaps at any other time in his entire adult life.

As a marketing guy by trade, a peddler by another name, I've always been able to read people--quickly. Fortunately, for me, these readings have usually been quite accurate. Occasionally, though, the readings are hazy and indeterminate. In those cases, the person is either trying to hide something, or is attempting to play a role.

Imagine how pointless it would be, for example, to try to discern the true character of Boris Karloff while watching him portray a villain, or that of Grace Kelly while watching her portray one of her patented virginal leading ladies. The truth is that Karloff was a very kind, sweet man, and Kelly was one of the most promiscuous actresses in Hollywood.

Which brings us back to Al Gore. His awkward personality is exactly what you would anticipate from someone who was never allowed to be himself, and spent every moment behaving in a manner designed to fulfill the expectations of others.

Groomed at an early age to follow in his father's footsteps, he was going to be a politician--even become president!! The problem is that he didn't want to emulate his father. But, on the track he was placed, and on the track he remained. From Vietnam to the vice presidency, as he himself described it.

Gore reminds me of a relative, who was handsome and gregarious, and was pushed into law school. As a lawyer, he was semi-competent, but outside of the office, his life was a façade. He was going through the motions, playing a role.

He got a heart attack at a young age, his marriage fell apart, and he became despondent. Ironically, he was able to resurrect himself by starting a bureau for lawyers in trouble. For the first time in his life, he DIDN'T have to play a role.

I have also known physicians who didn't really want to be doctors. They, too, went through the motions, in their personal and professional lives. All became very unhappy; one even committed suicide.

Consider Al Gore. He changed from pro-life to pro-choice in 1978. He was free to do so, of course, but almost nobody shifts in that direction. It was strictly a career move, and it had to go against his heart.

Many on the Right attacked him for spouting lies and exaggerations during the presidential campaign. Gore often claimed that his father lost his senate seat for supporting civil rights, when Gore Sr. actually voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I contend that this was not so much of a deliberate lie, as a repetition of what young Al must have heard hundreds of times around the dinner table.

Indeed, even in his concession speech, he attributed an eloquent verse to his father, rather than to its author, Edwin Markham (1852-1940). Take Gore to task for being sloppy, but understand that robot like, he was merely repeating what had been programmed years earlier.

Many of his other whoppers can be explained away as just playing his role. When an actor ad libs a line, and it fits the context, who besides the writer complains that it's not in the script?

On the very night of the election, he called Bush to concede, only to retract the concession about an hour later. He was pushed into this retraction just as much as he was pushed into the endless Florida legal squabbles. At long last, the United States Supreme Court granted him relief in defeat.

Speculate, if you like, on how a man can spend the best years of his life on a track not of his choosing. Speculate as well on how close we came to having a president who didn't want the job.

Al--enjoy the rest of your life. The reluctant ride is finally over. You couldn't have chosen a better political elegy than Edwin Markham's poem, Victory in Defeat: