Al's Dog Daze
Now Al Gore's dog is the center of a campaign flap in the race for the White House.
Democrat Gore told seniors in Tallahassee, Fla., on Aug. 28 that his mother-in-law Margaret Ann Aitcheson pays $108 a month for the brand-name drug Lodine, while it only costs $37.80 a month to administer the same drug to his arthritic dog Shiloh.
The Boston Globe on Monday raised doubts about that claim. It reported that the vice president's figures actually were national averages taken from a House Democratic study. Also, the newspaper said the numbers cited by Gore referred to the price paid by wholesalers, not consumers.
Reeling from its candidate's gaffes in recent weeks, GOP rival George W. Bush's campaign immediately pounced on the Globe report.
"Following a troubling pattern of embellishing and exaggerating his plans and personal experiences, Al Gore misled Florida seniors on prescription drugs and how it impacts his mother-in-law and his dog Shiloh," read a Bush campaign statement.
"For ailing seniors the issue of prescription drugs is very important and is a matter that provokes strong emotions. It would be wrong if Al Gore invented facts about his own family to take advantage of these strong emotions," said Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett.
Gore campaign spokesman Doug Hattaway said the vice president had not misled his audience or stretched the facts.
"His mother-in-law was prescribed the drug Lodine and his dog was prescribed the animal version of the same drug and we do stand by the figures used by the vice president. This is little ado about nothing," he said.
Hattaway added his campaign has no transcript of the event in question and he did not know whether Gore used those numbers to represent his family's particular Lodine costs. He said the campaign verified with Aitcheson's doctor and pharmacy - as well as with Gore's vice presidential staff - that his mother-in-law and pet have both used brand-name Lodine.
But the campaign refused to back it up the claim with further details.
"We're not going to give out his mother's private medical information," said Hattaway.
The Globe had reported that when it had questioned the Gore campaign about the vice president's claim, it could not say with certainty whether Shiloh or Aitcheson actually took the same drug.
In addition, the costs that Gore cited presumed his dog and his mother-in-law take the same dosage, which could put the 14-year-old Lab at risk for stomach ulcers, the Globe said. Finally, the report said that 85 percent of Americans who are prescribed Lodine actually get a generic alternative at a quarter of the cost.
On the campaign trail, Gore often criticizes the drug companies for what he sees as excessive profits and says it is wrong for pets to get some drugs cheaper than people do.
Republicans have linked the Globe report with Gore's one-time claim that he invented the Internet. That's an ssertion that the vice president has since said he's regretted, but it's also one that the GOP never tires of using against him.
"It looks like another Al Gore invention," said GOP vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney, campaigning in Seattle. "It strikes me that this was the kind of statement we have heard in the past from Al Gore and frankly, I would expect better from the vice president."
Hattaway replied, "This only shows how desperate the Bush campaign is to avoid talking about the issues."
Just last week, Gore mocked himself for his Internet gaffe during his appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman on CBS. One of Gore's own "Top Ten List" items: "I gave you the Internet - and I can take it away."
Gore has landed himself in trouble before with references to his family members. In his speech at the 1996 Democratic convention in Chicago, he railed against Big Tobacco with an emotional anecdote about his sister Nancy, who lost her life to lung cancer after years of smoking. That part of Gore's speech was later criticized when it was revealed that he had continued to grow tobacco for years after her death.