Reply #27: Slink

[tammywammy]

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B03E5D91638F931A2575AC0A9669C8B63&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/W/Winfrey,%20Oprah

THE 2000 CAMPAIGN: THE VICE PRESIDENT; Oprah Show Lets Gore Reach Out To Women

"Oprah Winfrey knew that it might be a rough day at the office. Before introducing Vice President Al Gore to her audience today, television's high priestess of self-revelation told her fans that she had always ''stayed away from politicians'' as guests because she never felt she could have an honest conversation with them. ''After 15 years,'' she said, ''I thought, O.K., I need to try to penetrate that wall.''

But after an hour with Mr. Gore seated beside her in a yellow leather armchair, Ms. Winfrey had done little more than chip away at the mortar. In the interview, which was broadcast from Ms. Winfrey's studio in Chicago, Mr. Gore revealed little that was new, though viewers did learn that his favorite book is ''The Red and the Black'' by 19th century French novelist Robert Stendahl; that his favorite movie is the quirky 1983 Scottish film ''Local Hero,'' and that his favorite cereal is Wheaties."

snip

"Mr. Gore appeared at ease with Ms. Winfrey, who will interview his Republican rival, Gov. George W. Bush of Texas, on Sept. 19. But for most of the show, Mr. Gore stuck closely to his campaign script. When Ms. Winfrey asked him why she should vote for him, he responded, ''I'm for the people, not the powerful.'' When she relayed a question from an online viewer about the greatest problem facing the country, he replied that ''we need more meaning in our national life.''

Perhaps his least scripted responses came after the cameras blinked off, when Mr. Gore lingered in the studio for about 20 minutes to take more questions from Ms. Winfrey and the audience. When a woman asked about Mr. Bush's ''problems'' with alcohol, Mr. Gore said he did not make any judgments about his opponent, that he took Mr. Bush at his word that ''he's had a personal transformation and a period of growth.'' Mr. Bush, 54, has said he drank more than he should have until he swore off alcohol 14 years ago."


She had both Gore and Bush on her show in 2000.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B04E5DD123BF933A1575AC0A9669C8B63&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/W/Winfrey,%20Oprah
THE 2000 CAMPAIGN:

THE TEXAS GOVERNOR; Full of Banter, Bush Goes On the 'Oprah' Circuit

" The question came by way of an e-mail message to Oprah, the queen of confessional television, and Gov. George W. Bush took it head on: What is the public's biggest misconception of him?

''I'm running on my daddy's name,'' he answered instantly.

''Really?'' she prodded.

''You know, if my name was George Jones I'd be a country and western singer,'' said Mr. Bush, the son of a president. ''I've lived with this all my life. Of course, I love my dad a lot. He's a fabulous man and I'm proud to be his son.''

For an hour today, Mr. Bush took his turn in Oprah Winfrey's chair in her Chicago studio, just a week after Al Gore did, trying to woo her 7 million daily viewers, most of them women. He gave her a kiss, which Mr. Gore did not. He resisted some of her efforts to force him into introspection and joked at others. He talked of God and why he stopped drinking. And his eyes welled up as he spoke of his wife and the birth of his twins. "