With regard to some real issues, Gore seems to be the kind of old-fashioned liberal who believes that to name a problem, and pass a bill against it, is to consider that problem solved. Thus he believes that passage of a federal hate crimes law would have prevented the grisly murders of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming and James Byrd in Texas. Gore has a weakness for utopian projects that fail to live up to their titles or promise, constantly urging new education initiatives whether or not they might work. But whether or not things work is unimportant in Goredom. The one constant in Gore's political life has been his extreme willingness to see to the needs of the moment, no matter how this contradicts what is on the record, or what he has said or has done in the past.
Tobacco is the main and most glaring example of the Gore Disconnect in full flower.
But Gore has done the same thing on three other issues, on which the views and interests of Tennessee voters diverge from the national base. He began his career as an ardent pro-lifer, rated by activists on both sides of the issues as having voted either to restrict or to outlaw abortion between 80 and 84 percent of the time. In 1977, he backed a bill to deny federal funding for abortion procedures, even in cases of rape and incest. In 1980, he voted to prohibit coverage for abortion in health insurance plans for federal workers. In 1988, as a moderate, he opposed abortion funding in all cases except when a woman's life was in danger.