Though he professes to be a “recovering politician,” Al Gore, the 45th Vice President of the United States, is a name that still might serve to politicize and polarize discussions with people of fervent, long-held beliefs. Especially when those discussions relate to the so-called “hoax” of climate change. Some voters who aren’t fans of Gore and didn’t cast a ballot for him back in the 2000 presidential election could very well reject what he says out-of-hand, simply because they have fixed notions about who he is and what he stands for.
In my experience, I’ve found that seeing a public figure in person (or maybe just seeing a public figure as a person) can have a disarming effect. It’s not so much being starstruck — mooning over a politician the way you would a celebrity — as it is just realizing that the face you saw on TV is a walking, talking human being whose body language you can now observe.
You suddenly find yourself staring at this living caricature whose intentions you must parse. Are they just a traveling salesperson, feeding you a line about something? Or are they a true believer? Do they have their heart in the right place?
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