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Gore questions Bush's bi-partisanship |
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November 1, 2000
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — On a mad-dash tour to keep Oregon and California from falling to his rival, Democrat Al Gore tried Tuesday to turn Republican George W. Bush's bipartisanship theme on its ear. ``Governor Bush often says you should support him because he'd get along with people in Washington,'' Gore told Oregon voters. ``But the real question is: Who does he want to get along with? The special interests ... the HMOs, the insurance industry, the oil companies and the drug companies.'' The Democratic nominee to succeed President Clinton mixed policy messages with light-touch personality campaigning on a 20-hour blitz through two traditionally Democratic states where Bush is challenging him. He tried to counter his robotic, attack-dog caricature with yet another appearance on NBC's ``The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,'' showing off family photos of him and wife Tipper elaborately costumed for Halloween as mummies, werewolves and monsters. Leno asked Gore if he agreed with Clinton's recent comments to a magazine interviewer that Republicans owed the nation an apology for his impeachment in the Monica Lewinsky affair. Gore, who badly wants to bury any memory of that scandal, danced over the question, joking: ``I'm still waiting for the Republicans to apologize for electing Newt Gingrich speaker.'' He hastened to add, ``Not that I want Newt to take that personally. I think the Contract (with America) agenda was pretty bad.'' At a Los Angeles rally afterward, celebrities supporting Gore were not as charitable. Cher used profanity to denounce Republicans and director Rob Reiner led the crowd packing a Westwood intersection in shouting, ``No son of a Bush!'' over and over before Gore took the stage with actor Martin Sheen. The candidate used a formal morning address at Portland Community College to sum up his tax policy by telling America's middle-class families, ``The budget surplus is your money.'' He said Bush wants to hand most of the surplus over to America's wealthiest 1 percent in the form of his proposed $1.3 trillion tax cut. ``How many families make $1 million a year or more?'' Gore asked his supportive audience. A woman raised her hand. ``There's one,'' the candidate cracked. ``I appreciate you supporting me, ma'am — more than you know.'' He put the sharpest new twist on his argument that the little guy needs someone in Washington to fight for him. Bush is using this closing week of the campaign to emphasize his claim that he is the better candidate to bring Washington's Democrats and Republicans together to achieve reform. His campaign is banking on voter frustration with partisan sniping and deadlocked legislation. Gore countered on Tuesday: ``I'm not running for president to go along and get along at any price. ... If you want someone who knows how to fight for your interests and has the experience to win those battles on your behalf, then I ask for your support.'' He added wryly, ``I can say no to the special interests with a smile.'' Gore's schedule for this week — including stops in Illinois, where he had been solidly ahead and had not planned to be competing this late in the game — was testimony to how tight the race is. A stop Thursday in New Mexico will double as a chance to rally Latino leaders to turn out big numbers of voters in their communities nationwide. Introducing Gore in Portland, daughter, Kristin, 23, helped put a human face on her father's record, particularly on the environment, where Green Party candidate Ralph Nader appears to be siphoning support. ``My father's been working on these problems for 24 years. When I was 9 years old, I could explain greenhouse gases,'' she recalled with a laugh. |