SEPTEMBER 26, 2002 — Fresh on the heels of his speech criticizing President George W. Bush’s approach to Iraq {http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iraq/2002/iraq-020923-gore01.htm}, former vice-president Al Gore's surrogates are speaking across the country on his behalf — on all manner of subjects. We got a taste of it here in Boston just yesterday, when Charles Burson, Gore’s former legal counsel, came to town. Burson, who is now the general counsel of Monsanto {http://www.monsanto.com/monsanto/layout/about_us/leaders/burson_web_bio.asp}, spoke to a group of some 50 people at the law offices of Mintz, Levin under the auspices of WorldBoston, which sponsors international forums in the city.

During his speech, Burson recalled an important decision made by Gore in late 1997. Back then, the Clinton administration was under fire for failing to do enough to fight air pollution, most notably by participants of an international meeting in Kyoto. Political aides advised Gore, who had made the environment one of his key issues since his years in the Senate, not to go. Gore bucked the pressure and went anyway.

What a great story. I wondered why Gore never mentioned it during his three presidential debates with Bush, who was then the governor of Texas. Once again, the anecdote pointed to a central problem of Gore’s 2000 presidential run: his failure to show how his specific, individual, involvement had changed things within the Clinton administration. Oddly, the Gore team never figured out how to enable Gore to receive credit for his unique contributions to the eight-year Clinton administration, while separating the vice-president from those aspects of the presidency, i.e., Monica Lewinsky, that he didn’t want to own. If they had managed to do this, Gore might have been overwhelmingly elected in 2000.

As for 2004, Burson maintains he doesn’t know what Gore is going to do. "I don’t know if he’s going to do it," says Burson, who is part of a small circle of old friends — like Gore, he's from Tennessee — who still speak with Gore. "He does have a lot going for him."

Right now, in addition to making occasional speeches, Gore is also finishing up a book on family values he is writing with his wife, Burson says. The book is due out in November — probably after the election. And its release will likely mark the real reinvention of Gore, along with the launch of his 2004 presidential effort.