OS ANGELES - Al Gore was the man of the hour.
Listen to what people close to him said last night: He's a rugged man who climbs high mountains, a brave man who volunteered for Vietnam, a macho man who can run a marathon, a ''tiger'' of a man when it came to fighting in Congress for people and causes he believes in. And of course, a family man.
Tipper Gore even shared a photo album with scores of pictures taken over 30 years of marriage so delegates to the Democratic National Convention, and millions of Americans at home, could see ''the man I love in a way you may not have seen him before.''
Of course, that was the point. In words and pictures, the man who last night accepted the Democratic Party's presidential nomination was presented through a tableaux of family and friends as a man of character and caring, good works and good fun, anything but the wonk that voters can't warm up to.
Particularly men. Polls show Gore has a big gender gap, and it isn't because women are flocking to support him. It's because men, in big numbers, prefer Texas Governor George W. Bush, who seems manly because he owns a ranch, ran a baseball team, played hard as a college frat boy, and wasn't always at the head of the class.
David Halberstam, an author and journalist, remembered Gore to the delegates as a little boy playing with a bullwhip and a grown-up who volunteered to go to Vietnam. ''He is the first Vietnam veteran to be nominated for national office,'' Halberstam said.
John Tyson, a college roommate at Harvard, admired Gore because he could have found a way to avoid Vietnam but instead enlisted because he came from a small community and ''knew people who would replace him if he didn't go.''
Robert Delabar of Seattle, who met Gore while they were stationed together at Fort Rucker, Ala., told the delegates, ''Al always seemed to be a regular easygoing fellow.'' Just before Delabar shipped out to Vietnam, Gore spent most of the night on a grassy median strip searching for a four-leaf clover. Delabar said he carried it with him to Vietnam and then in his wallet for years later.
''It stood for more than good luck,'' Delabar said. ''It stood for commitment.''
Jim Frush, also of Seattle, led Gore and his teenage son to the 14,411-foot summit of Mount Rainier last summer through tor driving rain, winds, hail, and fog. On that dark and stormy night, Frush said, Gore made the decision not to turn back.
''Grace under pressure, strength of character, perseverance. These are qualities that I want in a mountaineer and that we need in a president,'' said Frush, a lawyer and convention delegate. ''He was our spark plug. I'd tie onto a rope with Al Gore, and I'd follow him anywhere.''
Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland spoke of Gore as a crusading environmentalist. No sentimental tree-hugger, Gore ''was a tiger'' of a senator who went after midnight dumpers and the polluters of Love Canal, she said.
Gore's daughter, Kristin, introduced her mother as ''one of the coolest people you'll ever know.'' As Mrs. Gore, who plays the drums herself, danced her way to the podium to the throbbing beat of Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, the delegates wildly waved placards that said, ''Tipper Rocks.''
''Many of you know that faith and family are at the center of Al's life,'' Mrs. Gore said. ''Many of you know Al to be a decisive leader with strong values, deeply held convictions, and an unwavering comitment to making the American dream a reality for all our people.
''But I also want you to know that as a husband, a father, and grandfather, Al has always been there for our family, and he will always be there for yours.''
Tom Gosnell, a delegate from Winchester, said, ''It all fit in with the type of man I think he is: caring, concerned, compassionate, interested in helping people.''
Mrs. Gore, a photographer, narrated an intimate photo essay with loving detail of a man who, over 30 years of changing hair styles, wardrobe, and jobs, came across as anything but wooden and boring. Mrs. Gore said she was attracted to Gore because he had ''the most intense and beautiful blue eyes.''
She described how the couple lived in a trailer near Gore's Army base, how she missed him when he went to Vietnam, how the family coped with the death of Gore's father, the accident that nearly killed their only son, and the depression that afflicted her after the boy recovered.
''I got help, and it worked,'' Mrs. Gore said, as the audience in the Staples Center cheered. When her presentation was done, Gore burst onto the floor of the big arena as delegates cheered and waved white ''Gore'' pennants.
Len Paolillo, a delegate from Pittsfield, said, ''I learned he could balance being a public servant and being a family man.
''I think he's combined the best things of manhood. He's strong but caring,'' Paolillo said. ''He's what men should be in our society. He respects women. He respects kids. I mean, he's a real man.''
