Gore Finds Life Really Does Begin at Age 40

Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore Jr. turns 40 today, a minor event compared to most happenings in politics these days, except to Albert Gore Jr.

“I don’t know of any 39-year-old who is more anxious to be 40,” Gore said at his aptly titled “Finally 40” birthday party here Wednesday.

Gore’s relative youth has proved a curious burden in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. On one hand, he projects vigor, drive and a fresh face.

“Speaking as an older citizen, we need some young, vigorous people,” said John Wasnieski, 59, who turned out to hear Gore at a Democratic meeting in Wausau, Wis., last week. “It’s time for a change. We need some young blood.”

Makes Some Voters Wary

But on the other, it makes some voters wary, and thus forces him to devote time his opponents need not spend to underline his life experiences.

“He needs a little more seasoning,” said Frank Rogers, 41, a marketing executive from Stamford, Conn., who encountered the Gore campaign on a commuter train to New York. “I like him. I think he’s got good ideas, but I think he’s one campaign away.”

And his youth at times creates some odd combinations during his stump speeches. For instance, Gore likes to tell how he vividly recalls when his mother came up with the theme for his father’s first race for the U.S. Senate in Tennessee.

“He was running against a Kenneth D. McKellar, and we were worried about what we could do to combat McKellar’s powerful slogan,” he tells audiences.

The only problem is the race was 1952 and Albert Gore Jr. was only 4 years old.

And there are those odd asides at speeches, such as when he was being introduced before the presidents of various Jewish organizations in New York on Monday. The speaker, recalling his work with Gore’s father, said to the man who wants to be the next President: “You were only in knee pants then.”

Gore winces at those comments, staffers say, and privately yearns to be rid of them.

“I’ve never seen anyone who wants to be older so badly,” said one longtime Senate staffer. “I think it’s because he’s always been the youngest. When he was elected to the House he was the youngest congressman. Then he was the second-youngest senator. I think he’d like to be an older guy for a change.”

But being one year older won’t erase Gore’s youthful appearance. Except for a few gray hairs and an emerging bald spot, Gore looks almost boyish.

So he has tried to make age an advantage by often comparing himself to John F. Kennedy, also a senator, also a Harvard graduate, and also a presidential contender who struggled with the age problem.

“In 1960, we went from then the oldest President to have ever served as of that time to the youngest President ever elected,” Gore told a crowd. “By coincidence, we have the opportunity to do the same thing in 1988.”

Prim, Proper Manner

But Gore has had difficulty capturing the nation’s imagination as the generational candidate who can rally young voters around him. His prim, proper manner has led some to describe him as “an old person’s idea of what a young person should be.”

Gore tries to diffuse that argument by pointing out that polls show that the younger the voter, the greater his appeal. That is partly true.

According to exit polls following the Super Tuesday March 8 primaries in which Gore won seven states, Gore did best among those 18 to 29 years old. What Gore doesn’t mention is that those same polls show that he did worse among people of his own generation, ages 30 to 44.

“Some of it is a feeling that ‘I’m 39 and I’m not ready to be President, so how can he be ready?’ ” said Arlie Schardt, Gore’s press secretary. “My response is you’ve got to look at his background. In a way, he has been in training for (the presidency) from the time he was a child.”