(2002-11-27) — Despite Al Gore’s belief that people who make fun of him do so because of their “postmodern” worldview, the latest Gallup poll shows that a broad spectrum of Americans enjoy laughing at the foibles of the former vice president.
Mr. Gore, asked by the New York Observer to explain what motivates the “ceaseless lampooning” he faces, said , “That’s postmodernism…It’s the combination of narcissism and nihilism that really defines postmodernism.”
But polling data suggest that Mr. Gore elicits laughter not only from postmoderns, but also moderns, anti-postmoderns, pre-moderns, pre-millenialists, post-toasties, Luddites and Neanderthals.
“We were surprised at how the mere mention of Mr. Gore’s name brings people of diverse backgrounds and thought-patterns together,” said a Gallup spokesman. “Everybody loves laughing at Al Gore.”