Bush and Gore campaigns
getting in gear for fall fight
By Calvin Woodward
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — So much for
shaded policy disagreements.
Starker choices loom for voters —
on abortion, taxes, Social Securi
ty and more — now that Democ
rat Al Gore and Republican
George W. Bush are preparing to
go head to head for the presiden
cy
Even when the rhetoric of both
candidates seems to match, poli
cy experts see contrasts that are
likely to be magnified and be of
practical consequence for the na
tion’s future, not to mention
pocketbooks.
“This is in some ways as pro
found an ideological difference as
there has been since Reagan and
Carter in 1980 — if you dig into it,”
said Michael Franc, vice president
for government relations at the .
conservative Heritage Foundation.
Digging is required because the
vice president, a self-styled prag
matic “reinventer” of govern
ment, and the Texas governor, a
“compassionate conservative,”
can sound alike when they are
not speaking to the ideological
wings of their parties.
On health care, for one issue,
Gore proposes changes that are
modest by comparison with those
of his vanquished Democratic ri
val and modest, too, alongside
the grand vision of universal
health care abandoned by the ad
ministration he serves.
But his plan is much more am
bitious and expensive than any
thing Bush has put on the table.
For his part, Bush proposes
across-the-board tax cuts larger
even than the congressional Re
publican package that Democrats
attacked as too costly last year.
Gore offers selective tax relief
here and there.
As well, Bush stands for partial
privatization of Social Security,
proposes expanded medical sav
ings accounts and spells out a
way for parents whose kids are in
failing schools to use federal
money for private education —
ideas roundly opposed by the
vice president.
Those ideas have simmered in
Congress for a decade but only
now are emerging with force in a
presidential campaign. On the
Republican side, Franc argues,
that sets the governor apart from
Bob Dole campaign in 1996 and
President Bush in 1992.
“A lot of conservative thinking
that might have been trendy or
outside the envelope in the early
’90s is now much more widely
accepted,” he said Thursday.
Because the ground has shift
ed, “I see Bush as being to the
right of Dole, to the right of his
dad,” he said.
Al From, president of the cen
trist Democratic Leadership
Council, said the differences be
tween Gore and Bush are more
pronounced than might have
been expected from two men
who share a moderate impulse.
From contends that Bush built
his centrist message “on the
cheap,” without the painstaking
and often painful policy work
that helped Bill Clinton move his
party beyond its old orthodoxy in
1992. That left Bush ill-equipped
to stay in the center when the pri
maries got rough, he said.
“Clinton built his own philo
sophical base in the party that he
could fall back on when he got in
trouble,” From said. “Because
Bush didn’t do that, he had to fall
back on the people who were the
establishment.”
As a result, he said, Gore can
draw vivid differences with Bush
on some of the social and eco
nomic issues where they might
otherwise have been closer.
When Gore’s opponent was Bill
Bradley and Bush’s main rival
was John McCain, policy differ
ences tended to be minor or else
overshadowed by debate over
character, veracity, tactics and —
for Republicans — religion.
Despite all the heat aboui abor
tion, Bush and McCain espoused
similar positions on one side of
the issue; Gore and Bradley did
the same on the other.
McCain and Bradley take parting
shots as they exit election spotlight
By Ron Fournier
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Falling as
swiftly as they soared, John Mc
Cain and Bill Bradley abandoned
their presidential races Thursday
and chided their triumphant ri
vals on the way out. “Millions of
Americans have rallied to our
banner,” McCain said as both
candidates sought to leverage the
support they had earned.
The Arizona senator pledged to
press his case for political reform
and warned that Republicans
will “slip into the mists of histo
ry” without it. McCain, who
pulled swarms of Democrats and
independents into GOP contests,
offered nominee-in-waiting
George W. Bush his “best wishes”
— but not his endorsement.
An hour before McCain bowed
out, Bradley told reporters he
w'ould support Vice President A1
Gore, but he also accused his fel
low Democrat of “distortions” in
their primary fight. “I hope that
he wilt run a better campaign in
the general election,” said the for
mer New Jersey senator, who was
unable to win any primary or
caucus.
Still, it was a triumphant day
for the political establishment
that backed Bush and Gore, both
of whom vanquished their rivals
after stiff challenges. “When you
do battle with entrenched power
... it’s very difficult,” Bradley said.
Within minutes of McCain’s
announcement, Bush’s team was
reaching out to McCain interme
diaries in an effort to mend
fences. The rivals themselves
spoke briefly by telephone but
settled nothing.
“John needs some time to
think, and I need some time,”
Bush said.
Said to be still seething at the
Texas governor, McCain is in no
hurry to make peace. He planned
to take a week’s vacation before
determining what leverage he has
with Bush and what he might
want to achieve with it, said a
McCain adviser.
McCain knows he is not bar
gaining from a strong position,
but the adviser said his boss
wants to somehow keep his sig
nature issue — campaign finance
reform — on the political agenda.
With that goal in mind, McCain
quit the race but didn’t shut
down his campaign — a techni
cality that keeps his options open
in case he wants to make things
uncomfortable for Bush, who
needs McCain’s endorsement to
unify the party.
McCain’s options, according to
the adviser, include: barnstorm
ing the country to promote cam
paign finance reform, leading a
platform fight at the Republican
National Convention or even
mounting a third-party presiden
tial bid. Aides say that last option
is remote.
McCain himself has ruled out
bolting the GOP and said Thurs
day, “I love my home.” He did,
however, leave himself a loop
hole by saying in his departure
speech that the party deserves
“the allegiance of none” if it does
n’t embrace campaign finance re
form.
One of McCain’s top support
ers said he urged the senator to let
go of the enmity he feels toward
Bush. “There’s no question that
there’s some bitterness there and
some anger,” said Sen. Charles
Hagel, R-Neb.
McCain was the 10th Republi
can to leave the race. Bradley has
been Gore’s only challenger. Both
could not sustain momentum
against the sheer force of their ri
vals’ organizations.
McCain had the most potent
insurgency, staggering Bush in
New Hampshire and Michigan.
In a testament to his drawing
power, one of every four GOP pri
mary participants had never be
fore voted in a Republican con
test.
Their paths cleared, Bush and
Gore warmed up for what both
camps predict will be a negative
campaign.
The Texas governor criticized
Gore for supporting a ban on un
limited, unregulated donations
while raising the so-called “soft
money” himself.
Using a line he unleashed
against McCain in their primary
battles, Bush said of the vice pres
ident, “We’re not going to be
fooled by somebody who says
one thing and absolutely does an
other.”
Gore reissued his challenge to
forsake TV ads in the general
election. “We can elevate our
democracy,’ he told reporters
here.
Neither Bradley nor Gore made
clean exits.
The Democrat did not release
his delegates, saying they had
earned a voice at the national
convention. He has 412 delegates
— more than 1,000 behind Gore.
On his way out of the race,
Bradley said he will h^Jp elect
Gore and “continue to work for a
new politics and for the values I
laid out in the campaign.” He
said those values include cam
paign finance reform and politics
that is honest, positive, compas
sionate and ruled by convictions,
not polls. Aides said Bradley, 56,
may well run again.
McCain left more room for
doubt by suspending his cam
paign. The tactic may allow him
to collect his full allotment of fed
eral campaign funds, including
convention expenses. He also re
tained control of his 231 dele
gates, a fraction of the 1,034 need
ed for nomination.
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