Gore Endorsement Surprised Dean, Staff

The call came while Howard Dean was in yet another van, trundling through Iowa on Friday for yet another day of campaigning.

On the line was former Vice President Al Gore, calling from Tokyo to go over the draft of a foreign policy speech Dean had asked him to read. After a half-hour discussion, Gore had something else to say.

“I’ve decided I want to endorse you for president,” Gore told Dean, according to Dean aides. “I don’t want to wait around. I want to get involved, and I want to tell people now.”

Dean was thrilled -- and taken aback.

For more than a year, the former Vermont governor had been calling Gore frequently to seek his advice on policy. They became friends. But neither Dean nor his campaign expected an endorsement so soon.

They knew each other through Democratic circles -- and Dean once considered challenging him for president. But their relationship began in earnest in September 2002, when the little-known upstart candidate contacted Gore to compliment him on a speech in which he lambasted the Bush administration’s push for war in Iraq, Dean aides said.

After that, they began speaking monthly, as Dean solicited suggestions from Gore, mostly on foreign policy. By early fall, aides said, they were talking on the phone about every 10 days. At one point, Dean forwarded his mental health policy proposal to Gore’s wife, Tipper, who offered him significant feedback.

Other candidates were wooing the former vice president, a top Dean advisor said. But “I think these two guys kind of hit it off,” the advisor added.

Dean said Tuesday he was careful never to explicitly ask Gore for his endorsement, afraid the former vice president would think he was only calling him for his political backing.

Eventually, Gore suggested they meet. On Nov. 4, Dean sat down with Al and Tipper Gore at their Nashville residence. For about 90 minutes, they chatted over appetizers about the election and foreign policy.

Five days ago, during another call about a speech Dean plans to deliver Monday in Los Angeles, Gore offered his backing.

He asked Dean to keep it a secret until they could make a joint appearance, putting the candidate in the awkward position of trying to rearrange his schedule without telling his staff.

“I was surprised and ecstatic, but I was unable to show my emotions,” Dean said Tuesday in Cedar Rapids.

With Dean speaking in hushed tones so he wouldn’t be overheard in the van, he and Gore decided to fly together from New York to Iowa, which holds the first presidential nominating contest Jan 19.

Dean said he managed to keep the news quiet for the next few days, only telling his wife “at the last minute.” Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi didn’t even know until Sunday, when the candidate asked his scheduler to charter a large flight to Iowa.

When Trippi asked the candidate why, Dean said he couldn’t say. But the veteran campaign manager, who knew Dean and Gore had spoken Friday, soon figured it out.

“I’m not dumb,” Trippi said. “We knew something significant was happening.”