Washington Squares

For the next eight weeks, MoJo Wire gives you the chance to test your prowess with political trivia, and win a <b>FREE</b> subscription to <i>Mother Jones</i> magazine. Every Tuesday we’ll have a new set of questions about a different politician, plus the answers and winners from the week before. Just make sure you play before 5 p.m. Pacific Time each Monday.

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This Week: Al Gore

Al GoreGrowing up inside the Beltway, the son of Senator Albert Gore, Sr. was destined for politics. A Harvard graduate and an Army journalist in Vietnam, Gore has a reputation for seriousness: At one time he reportedly devoted two hours a day to learning the technical details of nuclear arms control. And his studiousness has paid off — the advance for his best-selling environmentalist tract, Earth In The Balance, totalled $100,000.

But how well do you really know the Veep?

  1. How does Gore describe himself, politically?

    “a raging moderate”
    “a feminazi”
    “a tree hugger”
    “the L-word”
    “a techno-nerd”

  2. In 1987, how did former New Republic columnist Michael Kinsley describe Gore?

    “very lifelike”
    “Michael Dukakis without the sense of humor”
    “an old person’s idea of a young person”
    “an environmental wacko”
    “someone with the soul of a vice president”

  3. According to a joke in Washington, what is the Secret Service’s code name for Gore?

    “Second Banana”
    “Straight Arrow”
    “Cigar Store Indian”
    “Mr. Tipper”
    “Al Gore”

  4. In 1993, Gore appeared on the “Late Show with David Letterman.” What was the first question Letterman asked him?

    “Doesn’t it drive you crazy being an underling to a draft-dodging sleaze?”
    “Hey, have you taught Bill how to inhale?”
    “Don’t you have anything better to do than show up here?”
    “So, have you fixed the government?”
    “Clinton and Gore: Gone in Four?”

  5. Which of the following could Gore not put on his résumé?

    reporter for the Nashville Tennessean
    tobacco farmer
    Sierra Club member
    divinity student
    Angus beef farmer

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We’re compiling the results from this quiz, please come back later

Ted Rueter is the author of several books on politics, including The Newt Gingrich Quiz Book and The Rush Limbaugh Quiz Book.

So, smarty pants, how’d you do last week?

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Owned by no one—except you.

We just keep seeing it happen: Newsrooms owned by billionaires and corporations are spinning their own narratives, overwriting the truth, following only stories that keep them in the pocket of those with even more power.

Not here. We’re not owned by anyone. We’re not part of any cult that demands our allegiance to a bottom line. We’ve spoken up and spoken out while other newsrooms changed their stories—or cut them altogether—to keep the C suite happy.

Our mission is to find the truth and amplify it. That’s why we’re independent, nonprofit, and, crucially, funded by readers. The investigations on our website will always be free to read, watch, and listen to, but our newsroom is powered by readers who pitch in what they can so we can keep asking the hard questions.

Can you chip in today?

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