It's hard to say exactly what prompted Al Gore's tenant, Tracy Mayberry, to pack her belongings and vacate the dilapidated sinkhole that "slumlord" Gore promised to fix after she went public with her grievances in June. Mayberry revealed that her house, which sits a mere 150 yards away from the Gores' in Carthage, Tennessee, had constipated sinks and toilets, armies of arachnids, peeling plaster, and holes in the floor that Gore's property managers failed to fix despite some 30 requests. (Instead, they served her an eviction notice, which Gore reversed after the story broke.)
Her decision might have been influenced by the steady stream of drive-by bird-flipping Gore supporters, or the discovery that her dog had been poisoned, or her cat's slit throat. In any event, as THE SCRAPBOOK went to press on July 7, Mayberry was packing two Ryder trucks, paid for by the Republican party of Tennessee, and relocating to Lima, Ohio.
The Mayberrys had told THE WEEKLY STANDARD's Matt Labash and others that they would sleep in their truck if Gore did not deliver on the promised repairs. Each threat seemed to cause a flurry of activity by hapless Gore underlings. As the New York Post reported, Mayberry found a repairman asleep on her kitchen floor (which had to be re-laid after the first repair job was botched). Gore was also caught erroneously suggesting the Mayberrys had already moved.
Though Gore spokesman Doug Hattaway has made available a list of 11 fixes either completed or imminent, Mayberry calls at least half of those "lies." While Gore's men have installed new gutters, added fill lines for the septic, sprayed for insects, and attempted to fix the toilets, Mayberry said the spiders are back en masse, the holes where the plaster was peeling were merely painted instead of repaired, the cracked ceilings weren't patched, her electrical outlets still shoot sparks, and her light-bulbs constantly blow. Her toilet, which the list, dated "July 6," slyly indicates was to "be replaced on June 27," still leaks water out of its base every time it's flushed, and hadn't been replaced as of July 7. Meanwhile, Mayberry says she can't get her calls returned by Gore's White House office, the campaign, or even her appointed contact, Gore family friend Steve Armistead, who Hattaway says has "been in constant touch."
While Gore's ex-tenant at one time was talking reconciliation, she now says of Gore, "He's a hypocrite. He's a liar." Though she's been called a "Republican bitch" by unhappy locals, Mayberry says she always votes Democratic -- or at least used to. Now, she says, "I'm voting for George W. Bush."