Former VP Al Gore copes with polluted image as divorce and alleged scandal makes headlines

BY Larry Mcshane

Shelby/AP/AP

Al Gore (3rd from r.) and his wife, Tipper (2nd from r.), in 2000 family photo, far removed from the current scandal alle
To many, including one licensed massage therapist in Oregon, Nobel Prize winner Al Gore was "Mr. Smiley Global Warming Concern" - a pure-of-heart environmental hero.
Now the globe-trotting, do-gooding Gore is catching a lot of heat - with none of it related to global warming.
Gore is dealing with some inconvenient truths - and a few ugly rumors - since the end of his marriage was followed by suggestions of sexual scandal.
The high-profile activist typically profiled in magazines like The New Yorker was suddenly splashed across the front page of The National Enquirer.
"AL GORE SEX ATTACK!" howled the Enquirer's front page, referring to a purported 2006 incident with the masseuse in an Oregon hotel suite.
But first came the end of his personal "Love Story," a 40-year union with high school sweetheart Tipper.
The demise of their marriage sent shock waves through the couple's friends and supporters early this month - and provided fodder for late-night comedians.
"Everybody is talking about it; everyone's blogging about this," joked NBC's Jimmy Fallon. "I bet this is the one week where Al Gore wishes he didn't invent the Internet."
The bombshell was followed by word that daughter Karenna's 13-year marriage was on the rocks. Her sister, Kristin, had filed for divorce 13 months earlier, ending her four-year marriage.
Adding to the connubial carnage, word leaked last week of a Portland, Ore., masseuse's rambling complaint accusing Gore of "unwanted sexual contact" nearly four years ago.
The red-headed masseuse - who said she voted for Gore in the 2000 presidential race - detailed his alleged transformation from statesman to "crazed sex poodle" during a late-night massage in his hotel suite.
"He had a dramatic display of violent temper as well as extreme dictatorial commanding attitude besides his Mr. Smiley Global Warming Concern persona," the woman says in a 67-page transcript of her interview with police.
Gore recalls getting the massage, a pal told The Washington Post, but he doesn't remember any incident. In fact, the ex-veep believes he left on good terms with the masseuse.
Cops found a lack of evidence to back up her account. But the timing of the complaint's release, coming on the heels of the Gores' marital meltdown, was brutal.
The couple's "mutual and mutually supportive" split had already prompted a spate of reports linking the ex-vice president to Laurie David, the former wife of "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David.
Laurie David, who co-produced the Oscar-winning Gore documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," quickly denied the rumors. "It's a total fabrication," she told The Huffington Post. "I adore both Al and Tipper."
Gore, as he has through much of the messy stretch, declined to comment and kept a low public profile.
The massage episode indirectly illustrated the twists in Gore's personal life.
When the Portland Tribune considered running a story in 2007 about the allegation, Gore's lawyers fired off a letter declaring the one-time Tennessee senator's marital credentials were impeccable. "You ... are aware that everyone who knows Al and Tipper Gore well can and does attest to the integrity of their 37-year marriage and to his honorable character," the letter said.