Gore’s Ghost of Charity Past

There’s been a lot of clucking this week about Vice President Al Gore’s income tax return--specifically his meager $353 in charitable contributions from an adjusted gross income of nearly $200,000.

That is indeed paltry, particularly for a national leader who is an impassioned advocate for public sacrifice and social causes. Consider for comparison a study showing that the average American family gave $696 to charity in 1996, on a fraction of Gore’s income. If Gore wants to be a leader setting an example for the nation--and even president in a couple of years--shouldn’t he be giving more?

Gore’s office said the vice president and his wife, Tipper, should be judged by their giving over a period. Their contributions ran to $35,530 in 1996 and $52,558 in 1992, mostly in book royalties. Also, the office said, the Gores do not claim a deduction for money they give to their church and contributions of food and clothing to the homeless.

Actually, nothing compels Gore or any other politician to make tax returns public. But the reality of modern politics is that office seekers and officeholders routinely release their returns and their charitable contributions always come under scrutiny.

Back in the 1970s there was a huge furor when it was revealed--illegally--that then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan paid no income tax at all. Business losses, Reagan said.

With Gore seeking the presidency, he and his political advisors knew that the couple’s tax return would have to be made public. The politic thing might have been to dash off a few checks to charity near the end of last December so that the minuscule contributions would not stand out like so much neon.

That $353 is likely to nag the vice president throughout his campaign as opponents question his commitment to the causes he espouses so fervently. That’s the price of politics. And nobody should have known that more than a politician who’s been working to cut a path to the White House.