Vice President Al Gore showed you don't have to be Irish to get a laugh at the St. Patrick's Day roast in Boston.
More than 500 people showed up Sunday to eat corned beef, drink beer and enjoy the sometimes stinging humor of the 41st annual event. Gore, who showed up late, quickly dived into his trademark self-deprecating humor."I'm told that a certain speaker of the Massachusetts House said the other night that I was an escapee from a wax museum," he said with characteristic deadpan delivery. "I'm actually just on leave."
Gore then reached into a white sack and pulled out gag gifts for acting Gov. Paul Cellucci and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.
Cellucci got a sombrero - a reminder of former Republican Gov. William Weld's failure to win appointment as ambassador to Mexico.
Kerry got a gift reminding him to stay out of the presidential race for a while: a pair of red long johns with white lettering that read "Kerry, 2008."
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Birthdays: For Monday, March 16
Statesman Mike Mansfield 95
Comedian Jerry Lewis 72
Actor Erik Estrada 49
Actress Kate Nelligan 47