Bradley to officially endorse Gore
July 10, 2000
Web posted at: 7:25 a.m. EDT (1125 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Ending months of silence, former Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Bradley will formally endorse Vice President Al Gore this week, during joint appearance on the campaign trail.
"Yes, he will use the word 'endorse,' " Bradley spokeswomen Anita Dunn told reporters on Friday. The former New Jersey senator dropped out of public view since conceding defeat to Gore in early March, and -- despite casting a vote for his once bitter rival during the New Jersey presidential primary -- has made few comments about the vice president.
The two men will appear together at a campaign rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, this Thursday, according to a joint statement released from the vice president's headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee.
"Bradley stated his support for Vice President Gore when he withdrew from the race on March 9. He will re-emphasize that support at the campaign rally in Green Bay and pledge to help elect Al Gore president and restore Congress to Democratic control," Gore spokesman Chris Lehane said Friday.
Democratic officials in Washington echoed those sentiments on Friday, saying Bradley will offer his "enthusiastic support."
Although the former New Jersey senator failed to beat Gore in any state during their at times bitter primary contest, Bradley did win 412 delegates to Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles next month. He has not released them in support of Gore, although the vice president clearly has enough to seal the nomination.
While Bradley cast a vote for Gore during New Jersey's presidential primary last month, he would not say whether that meant he was "endorsing" Gore. "It's your call," Bradley told reporters. "I said I give him my full support, and that's what I will do."
Gore hopes to shore up traditional Democratic support
The Gore campaign selected Green Bay for the endorsement. Bradley visited Wisconsin several times in 1996, when he was stumping for President Bill Clinton, Dunn said.
"They've been wanting to do something in the Midwest -- it's a battleground state for them," Dunn said. "There are a lot of Perot voters up there who Bradley could appeal to."
The joint appearance could help Gore shore up his base among traditional Democratic voters. The vice president has focused his attention in recent weeks on traditional Democratic constituencies such as women, union members, blacks and Hispanics and portrayed himself as an ally of ordinary people against insurance companies, the oil industry and the pharmaceutical companies.
Bradley lends a fund-raising hand -- but will we hear his voice?
Bradley has also authorized one of his major fund-raisers to assist the Democratic National Committee in raising money for Gore this fall. The Gore camp has been seeking access to Bradley's donors, but the donors have been waiting for Bradley to announce his endorsement.
A major speaking role for the former basketball star during the second night of the Democratic convention is also close to being nailed down, Dunn said Friday.
Bradley took what many regarded as a less-than-aggressive approach to winning the White House, pacing himself with a low key style stripped of the traditional political rhetoric. Although he started off slowly, he managed to raise a substantial amount of money and build momentum in key Northeastern states such as New Hampshire that caught Gore off-guard early in the campaign season.
But the vice president was able revitalize his own campaign, and the Bradley camp ran out of steam just as the primary season heated up. His campaign was crushed after Gore swept all 16 contests included in the March 7 Super Tuesday contests.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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