Al Gore's commitment to public service in the face of cynicism

Then he walked into a slow motion disaster: got terrible advice, had to
fend off a third-party run from the left, endured a hail of antagonism,
caricature, and mockery from the press (right-wing and mainstream), got
very little support from the Democratic establishment, and ran a
hesitant, confused campaign. He still managed to get more votes, yet
defeat came nonetheless, in the most arbitrary, unjust way possible.

He had to step aside and watch the presidency go to a callow, incurious
silver spoon who'd been a shiftless drunk 'til the age of 40. With some
justification, he saw himself as a victim, but he got no support from
his party -- most Democrats abandoned or disdained him. On top of it
all, he was more or less broke. Who knows what stew of shame, anger,
and regret he must have faced afterward.

He could have withdrawn completely. He could have taken a cushy job in
a think tank or university somewhere, or stayed at home writing books.
Who among us wouldn't have?

It says something about his character that Gore went through the
ringer, got up, dusted himself off, and tried to figure how best he
could be of use. The solid ground that led him out of the fog was the
one constant in his professional life: public service. He'd always
tried to make the world a better place. In doing so, he has struggled
against his own limitations, his inwardness and introversion, his
prosaic style of speaking, his inability to appear comfortable in his
own skin in public, his uncanny ability to inspire mockery even among
those he is trying to serve. In spite of all of it, he has never
retreated into the shell of cynicism that protects so many of us. He
has always continued to care and to try, as best he could, to serve.

So it was to service he turned after his bitter loss. He fired up
his little slideshow and trudged out in the world to try to get people
concerned about a danger he believes could end civilization. In those
early years there was no glamour. He was playing to rooms of dozens, or
hundreds, not thousands. He wasn't being feted, he was flying coach.
Global warming wasn't on the agenda. He never could have anticipated
awards or acclaim.

I don't mean to paint Gore as a saint, or say there's no ego or
calculation behind his actions. Human beings are complicated. But the
explanation of his life that makes the most sense, that requires the
fewest pop-psychological speculations and conspiracy theories, is that
he's a decent, committed human being. He kept plodding on, kept trying,
until he got it right. What finally worked for him was artless,
unapologetic sincerity. This irony-armored reality TV world goes piss
poorly on sincerity. I won't apologize for being inspired by its
improbable success.