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Gore tries to rebound Staying on Top is a Tall OrderBy Rick Horowitz
NASHVILLE, ANY MINUTE NOW -- In an effort to recapture the momentum in his battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, Vice President Al Gore today declared himself "the candidate of the middle-height voter." Speaking at a hastily called news conference at his headquarters here, Mr. Gore sought to distinguish himself from his Democratic rival, Bill Bradley, whose recent gains in state and national polls have made the nomination fight a much tougher contest than most in the Gore camp had once anticipated. "While my oversized opponent focuses his attention on the fringes of America's height continuum," Mr. Gore declared, "I promise to represent the interests of the vast majority of the American people -- the reasonably statured." The vice president's comments came just days after the Bradley campaign staged a highly publicized fundraising event at Madison Square Garden in New York. The gathering, which poured as much as $1.5 million into the Bradley coffers, featured some 20 Hall of Fame teammates and opponents of the one-time New York Knicks basketball star. A day after the fundraiser, Mr. Bradley also received the endorsement of Robert Reich, the Clinton administration's diminutive former secretary of labor. At his news conference today, Mr. Gore seemed determined to take back the initiative in what has become an increasingly competitive two-man race. The vice president pledged that over the next several weeks, he will be offering a series of tax incentives and "right-sized programs" to benefit Americans of normal height. These people, Mr. Gore suggested, have largely been ignored by Mr. Bradley, the former New Jersey senator. "There's a world of difference," Mr. Gore contended, "between having 'big ideas' and having your head in the clouds. What works for the hyperpituitary crowd is nothing but the pits for most of America." The vice president's apparent slap at tall people constituted something of a strategic shift; in the days leading up to Mr. Bradley's Madison Square Garden event, Gore aides had tried to argue that their man was also a highly skilled basketball player, citing his play in pickup games in the House gymnasium during his time in Congress. Chastened by the general merriment that greeted that effort elsewhere in the political community, the campaign has now reversed field, and evidently hopes to use Mr. Bradley's superior basketball skills against him. A new series of Gore television ads, scheduled to debut shortly in New Hampshire and Iowa, will reinforce the vice president's latest line of attack, according to campaign officials. Each of the ads will carry the message "Hopes -- Not Hoops" and will conclude with the tag line "Gore -- He's On Your Level." As for Mr. Reich's endorsement, the vice president professed to be unconcerned, describing his former colleague as "smaller than any normal adult human being has a right to be." Gore aides were even less restrained in their comments, with one campaign staffer saying he was happy to "concede the Mini-Me vote" to Mr. Bradley. Meanwhile, aides to Mr. Gore were busy distributing a list of officials who have endorsed the vice president and who measure between 5 feet 7 inches and 6 feet 2 inches for men, and between 5 feet 2 inches and 5 feet 8 inches for women. "It's very simple," explained a senior adviser to the Gore campaign. "We're going where the votes are, and we won't be caught short -- or tall." Posted 11/16/99.
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Rick Horowitz