Next to its exaggeration of Al Gore's "exaggerations" the rap most
unfairly laid by the media on the vice president is that he
was part of the corrupt fundraising excesses of the Clinton
administration, ranging from the Lincoln bedroom sleepovers
to the White House coffee to the solicitations from White
House phones to what must have been an orgy at the Buddhist
temple. What is fascinating about all of these scandals is
that nowhere is there evidence of the real evil campaign
finance laws are designed to prevent, the trading of money
for influence.
The White House sleepovers and coffees represent the best,
not the worse, way to repay contributors, rewarding them
with hospitality but not a change in policy. As for the
phone calls from the White House, does a solicitation become
more virtuous because it is made from a phone across the
street instead of from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? The point
again is: was there any evidence that a contribution from
the phone calls influenced administration policy? If not,
the calls were violations of technicalities but not the
spirit of the law. As for the Buddhist temple, the evidence
shows that the vice president and most of the people in
attendance thought it was a rally not a fundraiser. Some
contributions were made. But again there is no evidence that
any of them influenced the administration.
So just as in the case of the exaggeration of his
exaggerations, the media has tarred Gore with a reputation
that is undeserved.
