Zwecker: All eyes backstage on Al Gore

By Bill Zwecker
Sun-Times Columnist

Al Gore was backstage still talking to the press when Melissa Etheridge won for best original song for "An Inconvenient Truth." Gore was clearly moved — almost to tears listening to Etheridge pay tribute to him in her on stage remarks — putting his arm around Davis Guggenheim as they listened to Etheridge.

Not surprisngly, nearly all the questions backstage for the Oscar-winners for "An Inconvenient Truth" went to the former vice president. When he was first addressed as "Mr. President," Gore quipped, "Well, I was the president of the Senate, so that's not improper."

As for the political aspects of solving the question of global warming, Gore said "This is not a political issue. It's not a political movie. Some issues will have to be worked out in the political sphere. It is the overriding moral challenge of our time. We have to find a way to build a bipartisan and non-partisan way to solve the climate crisis."