Inside the Beltway: More Gore

NEWS AND OPINION:

Al Gore missed the Democratic National Convention, prompting murmurs that the former vice president has been irked at the White House for one reason or another. But wait. Mr. Gore is emerging in time to serve as the newly sleek and somber looking anchorman for Current TV, the cable news channel he cofounded six years ago, poised to lead coverage of the first presidential debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney in a mere six days.

Mr. Gore appears to be none too happy with either one of them. Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney have not uttered an iota of truth, inconvenient or otherwise, about climate change, global warming, fossil fuels or other enviro-alarmist fare that is so dear to the activist anchorman, who has accused both of fomenting a “conspiracy of silence” about such topics.

Nevertheless, Mr. Gore will report on their debate from Current TV studios in New York City, joined by a “roundtable” of talking heads that includes former Govs. Jennifer Granholm of Michigan and Eliot Spitzer of New York, plus analyst Cenk Uygur.

Mr. Spitzer, incidentally, may have a few moments of frustration ahead himself. His former senior adviser Lloyd Constantine has penned “Journal of the Plague Year: An Insider’s Chronicle of Eliot Spitzer’s Short and Tragic Reign,” which offers insight into the months preceding calamitous news that the “Sheriff of Wall Street” had patronized prostitutes.

While presidential campaign doings may vex him, Mr. Gore appears at home with the more local variety. He will stick around the Big Apple long enough to join House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and a yet-to-be-named Democratic donor for a fancy luncheon, part of a fundraising sweepstakes organized by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

And the money? The committee has earmarked the funds for eight New York campaigns, including Sean Patrick Maloney for Congress and the Louise Slaughter Re-Election Committee.

TED AT HOME

“Nobody has more absolute fun with guns than my family. Like millions of American families, these utilitarian tools and works of art serve us well in all manner of good, clean, legal, safe fun, recreation and competition. Our American Dream is measured in ballistics,” says Ted Nugent, the unapologetic guru of guns, rock ’n’ roll, the Second Amendment, big game, family values and meat eating, not necessarily in that order.

Mr. Nugent gets a chance to share the details of his larger-than-life life, which currently includes a ranch called “Spirit Wild” just outside Waco, Texas, ice cube trays that yield grenade-shaped ice cubes, and an OBR PrediTAR .308 rifle.

Coming to the Discovery Channel on Oct. 10, it’s “Ted Nugent’s Gun Country,” a one-hour special that highlights his adventures with scimitar-horned oryx antelopes, a trip to firearms maker LaRue Tactical, an explosion and a barbecue with some honored guests. “A firm believer that no animal goes to waste, Ted prepares a festive meal at the ranch that includes guests from Wounded Warriors — his way of giving back to those who fought on behalf of the country he loves so much,” the network explains.

SAINT NICKLAUS

Logistically, it’s a nice hole-in-one for Romney campaign. Ohio native and golf legend Jack Nicklaus stepped up to the mike in a high-school gymnasium in Columbus on Wednesday to endorse Mitt Romney for president.

“I once said that the worst thing you can do in golf is dwell on a bad shot, because it will affect your next swing. We are too late to change recent history, but we can write a better future for ourselves, for our children and for their children, beginning by putting Mitt Romney in the White House,” Mr. Nicklaus told an enthusiastic crowd in the important swing state.

Mr. Romney said the gesture touched his heart. The locals were more vocal.

Mr. Nicklaus is “god in central Ohio,” observed one onlooker. “It’s good to have god on your side.”

WISHFUL THINKING

“If I move to Ireland and buy a house, I can run for president of Ireland, because of my Irish heritage. And because I was born in Arkansas, which is part of the Louisiana Purchase, any person anywhere in the world that was born in a place that ever was part of the French empire, if you live in France for six months and speak French, you can run for president.”

— Former President Bill Clinton, to CNN’s Piers Morgan.

THE HISTORIC CAMPAIGN

“We were told our campaign wasn’t sufficiently slick. We regard that as a compliment.”

— Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, on winning an unprecedented third term, to the New York Times on June 12, 1987.

THINK LIKE FATHERS

“Election 2012: candidates need to act like presidents, think like fathers.”

That’s simple advice to President Obama and Mitt Romney from Parents magazine, which surveyed 2,100 mothers and fathers and found 9 out of 10 saying the lack of jobs ultimately translates as a “serious problem” for American children. Another 83 percent also fret about the impact of the federal debt on the next generation. Next month, the 86-year-old publication launches Too Small to Fail, an intense media outreach to raise awareness about it all.

“If our future workforce is going to be competitive, we need to make investments in children today. That is why issues of the family must be front and center during this election cycle,” says Matt James, president of the Center for the Next Generation, a partner in the project.

POLL DU JOUR

• 67 percent of Americans trust the judicial branch of the U.S. government.

• 62 percent of Republicans, 68 percent of independents and 69 percent of Democrats agree.

• 56 percent of Americans overall trust the executive branch of the U.S. government.

• 17 percent of Republicans, 52 percent of independents and 90 percent of Democrats agree.

• 34 percent overall trust the legislative branch of the government.

• 42 percent of Republicans, 26 percent of independents and 36 percent of Democrats agree.

Source: A Gallup Poll of 1,017 U.S. adults conducted Sept. 6 to 9 and released Wednesday.

• News, views, righteous squawks to jharper@washingtontimes.com.