It’s a Close Shave for Tipper Gore

Al Gore whisked off his whiskers to show support for his wife’s possible Senate bid, he told his students at Fisk University in Tennessee. The 2000 Democratic presidential nominee grew the beard after losing to George W. Bush.

He shaved early Sunday, associates said, before wife Tipper decided not to run for the seat being vacated by Republican Fred Thompson. She called his sacrifice “really cute.”

Despite speculation that his new look signals a decision to seek the presidential nomination again in 2004, Gore spokesman Jano Cabrera said: “Millions of American men woke up today and shaved. This does not mean they are en route to Concord, N.H., to file.”