RALEIGH - Flanked by North Carolina governor Jim Hunt, First Lady hopeful Tipper Gore wound down her campaign through North Carolina in front of an enthusiastic throng of about 400 yesterday afternoon at Jones Auditorium at Meredith College.
Speaking to a crowd made up mostly of Meredith students and state officials, Gore and Hunt stressed Al Gore's commitment to education and praised his work in revitalizing the economy and cleaning up the environment.
"He has proposed funding so that our kids can have the schools that our children and grandchildren deserve," Hunt said. "It's not right that our kids have to stay inside on code-orange or code-red days. Al Gore is the main leader in this country that's doing something about it." Hunt then introduced Tipper Gore by emphasizing her commitment to family values and pointing out that "she cares about our children."
After thanking many of those in the audience, Gore began by reminiscing about her and her husband's past work at The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville. Although Al Gore grew up in a family of public service officials, she said he had grown disillusioned with American politics after graduating from college and going to Vietnam.
Tipper Gore then discussed how his time as the Tennessean's local city/state government reporter in the early 1970s led her husband back into the political scene. "Politics was the last thing he wanted to do," said Tipper Gore, herself a photographer for The Tennessean. "I thought he would write novels or continue in the newspaper business."
She also praised her husband's work on the economy, the environment and education. While on the subject of education, Tipper Gore began a wandering discussion of outside pressures invading the lives of American youth.
She stressed the importance of learning to balance those outside pressures with family commitments and then related an anecdote to illustrate her husband's ability to achieve that balance. "He has made the leader of a foreign country wait in his office because he had to be the soccer dad who passed out the oranges at the game, and that game went into overtime," she said.
Just as the speech drew to a close, Gore was interrupted by an event both frightening and bizarre.
A member of Meredith College's Young Democrats suddenly collapsed on the stage, her head hitting the ground with a thump heard throughout the auditorium.
Other members of the group and several dignitaries, including Hunt, rushed to her aid while Gore looked on in apparent shock.
After more than a minute of stunned silence, the student was helped to her feet and carried off the stage.
Gore then encouraged the audience to give the woman an ovation, and remarked, "We know in sports, when someone has to come off the field because of an injury, we applaud them."
Tipper Gore concluded by emphasizing the importance of taking an active role in the political process and reminding the audience of the upcoming May 2 primary. "As you talk to others about the election on Tuesday, remember that every vote does matter," she said. "When [Pres. John F. Kennedy] won in 1960, he won by one vote per precinct. Your participation makes all the difference in the world. Your presence makes [the democratic process] stronger; your absence makes it weaker."
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