Initially Al Gore wasn't a very important person in the field, he was only a spokesman. But Myron Ebell and other public opinion shifters set Gore up as something of a leader because he was easier to knock down.
Algore is more a soothsayer, a snake oil salesman, a charlatan, a fraud, huckster, liar, egotist.
Al Gore’s a fool... but thank God - he’s THEIR fool - not ours.