Al Gore in Crashing the Party, by Ralph Nader

On Health Care: 1999: Pushed South Africa to respect Big Pharma AIDS patent

In 1999, Gore had meetings with Mbeki, declaring that such legislation would constitute a violation of the GATT trade agreement--which it was not. Without the full protection of Merck, Pfizer, and other companies' intellectual property, Gore argued, there would not be the billions necessary for further research and development. Gore, of course, would have seen no need to inform Mbeki that the growth in the industry's advertising and marketing expenditures is greater than the growth of their research budgets, or that many of the most significant drugs were financed through tax dollars.

On Principles & Values: 1997: Refused to meet with Ralph Nader to discuss issues

"They have?" he asked, as if surprised.

I reminded him of a constructive meeting we had in 1993 at his office. "Then can you give me a time when we can get together?"

"Well," he replied, "let's talk now."

"There are several major topics," I said, briefly listing them, "and I doubt whether it is best to discuss these on the telephone. Can't we find a time to meet?" I fully expected him to agree and refer me to his scheduler.

"Well, I'll see," he said and politely ended the conversation.

That was the last I heard from Al Gore, until he began telling crowds in the closing days of his 2000 presidential campaign that a vote for Nader was a vote for Bush.