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They stayed up past midnight chitchatting about “everything under the sun.” Their wives went horseback riding together. They chuckled at each other’s jokes, took turns poking fun at reporters and even dressed alike, in chinos and polo shirts.

Headline: Gore’s New Pal, a Favorite of Independent Voters

But the broader political point Mr. Gore seemed intent on hammering home was his own growing closeness to Mr. Ventura, a former professional wrestler who won election on the Reform Party line in 1998 and remains a favorite of independent voters across the nation.

—The New York Times, June 23, 2000

I like Al Gore a great deal. The first time we met, the Gores had come to Minnesota after I became governor. My daughter, Jade, was in the Cavalcade of Roses horse show, and they sat in the audience. His Washington residence was the old Naval Observatory, where they have the big telescope. A highlight of our night there was when my First Lady beat Tipper in pool.

I spoke with Al about the abortion bill situation. I told him the whole scenario, how I was taking a tremendous amount of heat, being called a flip-flopper and a bunch of other names because, as a candidate, I’d said I had no particular problem with the bill.

“What do you do in a situation like this?” I asked the vice president.

“It’s simple,” he told me. “You throw everything else out of the equation, and you go with what you believe is right.”

The gave me the courage to stick to my convictions. I went on National Public Radio in Washington and, when asked about the twenty-four-hour waiting period, I said: “It’s not like driving into a McDonald’s and pulling up and saying, ‘I want a number-four cheeseburger.’ You have to make an appointment.” I went on ABC’s Good Morning America and told Charles Gibson: “Really, what I think the question comes down to is, how involved in our personal, private lives do we want to interject government?”

I made an offer to the right wing: “I’ll sign this bill if you make all optional surgical procedures have a twenty-four-hour waiting period, which would include liposuction.” They were appalled.

Back in Minnesota, I announced my decision on the bill in the governor’s reception room. No lawmakers, lobbyists, or members of the public were allowed. I read my statement, and took no questions from the media. Security was tight, because of all the emotion this arouses in people.

I said: “I have decided it is wrong for government to assume a role in something I have always believed was between a woman, her family, her doctor, and, if she chooses, her clergy.” And I vetoed the bill.

The next year, the House Republicans decided to attach the “twenty-four-hour notification” to a Health and Human Services bill that set aside money for health care, nursing homes, and welfare for low-income citizens. They were basically making hostages out of the sick, the elderly, and the poor. More political gamesmanship, and the Senate went for it, too!

I vetoed this bill also, and sent it back asking the legislature to remove the four pages of abortion language. That was the year I had to threaten a government shutdown. They ended up giving in.

Let’s talk about a few of the other “heresies,” in the eyes of the religious zealots. President Bush supports a ban on abortion, but opposes stem-cell research. That clearly shows me that he has more concern for the unborn than for the living. In fact, he apparently has no problem with sending the living off to die in a stupid war. Unlike what’s happening over in Iraq, stem-cell research seems like a great potential boon to humanity.

I have a strong belief that you are in charge of your body, whether male or female. It’s the house you’re living in for your entire existence—your temple, as the more religious might say. When that body gives out, as happened to Terry Schiavo, I also think the family has a right to “pull the plug.” Where was the public outcry over what the U.S. Congress did in the Schiavo case? After all those years on life support,