Gore the endangered

The vice president's good work may not outweigh his disastrous PR, writes Mark Tran
Vice president Al Gore once wrote a best-seller called The Earth in the Balance, a litany of environmental perils from depletion of the ozone layer to the destruction of rain forests. Six years on, it's his presidential campaign that appears to be in the balance.

The New York Times recently summed up Mr Gore's predicament in a headline: Clinton Admits To Concerns As Gore Campaign Falters. Just as Mr Clinton slaloms past obstacles like Jean-Claude Killy, Mr Gore tends to slip on every banana skin thrown his way. Attempts to buff up Mr Gore's image have backfired, making him look more foolish.

There was the misguided attempt to portray himself as a romantic lover, when Mr Gore boasted that he was the model for the preppy boyfriend in Love Story. The fact that he should want people to think he was the inspiration for the wimpy Oliver Barrett IV speaks volumes about the vice-president's skewed view of the world. Worse was to come when Love Story author Erich Segal dismissed the claim as nonsense. Mr Gore's most recent howler was to make the preposterous claim that he invented the internet, an assertion that led to guffaws and numerous jokes at his expense.

All these self-inflicted wounds obscure the important work Mr Gore does in the Clinton administration. He has been active in the search for a diplomatic solution to the Kosovo crisis, holding talks with top Russian officials. He has worked hard to get American car makers to accept lower exhaust emissions standards in follow-up meetings to the Rio environmental summit in 1992. In all, he has generally been active in every big issue the administration faced in its two terms.

But Mr Gore's solid preparation for the presidency carries little weight with Americans. The latest Newsweek poll shows him to be ahead of his most likely challenger for the Democratic nomination, Bill Bradley, but he lags behind George W Bush, the likely Republican nominee. Only 19 per cent trust Mr Gore "a lot" to handle foreign policy, quite an insult for a man who likes to tout his expertise in defence and foreign policy issues.

Of course it's too soon to write him off, and some highly-regarded Democratic strategists have joined his campaign - albeit after some soul-searching. They know his handicaps: in front of crowds his speaking style is robotic, or goes to the other extreme of being histrionic. Mr Gore's biggest drawback are his close ties to Bill Clinton, a president who survived the Monica Lewinsky scandal, but who brought deep embarrassment to the Oval Office, although independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr deserves special mention.

Americans vote against the current man in office. They elected Jimmy Carter at Gerald Ford's expense in reaction to Richard Nixon's tortured and paranoid style that culminated in Watergate. They soon tired of Carter's high-minded but downbeat presidency for the "morning again" optimism of Ronald Reagan. They opted for Mr Clinton's man of the people act in reaction to George Bush's patrician awkwardness. Mr Gore's squeaky clean reputation - no hint of scandal taints his 29-year marriage to Tipper - should stand him in good stead after the sexual shenanigans of Clinton. Unfortunately, he is too closely associated with Mr Clinton and may pay the price in 2000.

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Signor stays home

There's a reason why Italian men have a reputation for being Mama's boy. They leave the nest late. Nearly two-thirds - 59 percent - of adult Italians still live at home at least up to their mid-30s, according to 1998 figures released Tuesday by the national statistics bureau, a 7 percent increase since 1990. In the north, especially, young married couples almost never move out of their parents' homes until both partners are employed.

Many children leave home only if they can maintain a standard of living equal or better than that of their parents. It's not solely a matter of choice. The difficulties in finding housing and a job, especially when starting out, militate against striking out on one's own. The trend has perpetuated the cliche of "mammoni" - sons who depend on maternal care up to the brink of middle age and beyond.

The phenomenon is not confined to Italy. In the US, more and more adults see no stigma in living at home. Struggling artists in New York, for example, can save huge amounts of rent money by sticking with the parents. It's also cheaper than eating out.