Gore and Lieberman wrap up convention, launch riverboat tour
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By Ian Christopher McCaleb and Matt Smith/CNN
LA CROSSE, Wisconsin (CNN) -- With the Democratic National Convention behind them, Al Gore and running mate Joe Lieberman plan to set off Friday morning on a riverboat tour they're calling "Setting Course for the Future."
The Democratic presidential and vice presidential nominees are scheduled to depart LaCrosse, Wisconsin on the Mark Twain Riverboat for a four-day float down the Mississippi River to Hannibal, Missouri, the boyhood home of the fabled American author. They hope to use the trip -- with overnight stops in Dubuque, Iowa; Moline, Illinois; and Keokuk, Iowa -- to talk with working families about their plans for the future.
Not to be outdone, the Republican nominees plan to campaign Friday in Gore's home state. They will stage a "Victory 2000" rally in Bartlett, Tennessee, a suburb of Memphis.
Vice President Gore accepted the Democratic Party's 2000 presidential nomination Thursday night in Los Angeles in a speech that avoided outright attacks against his Republican rival in favor of concise declarations of intent on issues varying from health care to campaign finance reform.
In his straightforward, 51-minute acceptance address -- interrupted numerous times by thunderous cheers and the raucous sound of feet stomping on the floor of the Staples Center sports complex -- the vice president sought to step out of President Clinton's long shadow by declaring himself an independent thinker.
"I'm here to talk seriously about the issues," Gore said. "I believe people deserve to know specifically what a candidate proposes to do. I intend to tell you tonight. You ought to be able to know, and then judge for yourself."
Gore wielded a heavy rhetorical sword Thursday night and struck out to slay some of the dragons that have harassed him in the election year: his ability to lead; his connections to the president; and his willingness to stand on principled ground.
"We're entering a new time, we're electing a new president, and I stand here tonight as my own man. I want you to know me for who I truly am."
Building upon introductory efforts mounted throughout the four-day Democratic National Convention by numerous friends and family members, Gore spun a tapestry of family lore coupled with an agenda intended to "better the lives of working families" -- an agenda he said would actively avoid skating though bountiful economic times.
The complex, carefully crafted address was aimed at both the Democratic faithful in the convention hall, whose affectionate reception brought tears to Gore's eyes as he entered the delegate seating area en route to the podium, as well as at the hundreds of thousands of undecided voters who could hold the key to his election, or a victory by GOP nominee George W. Bush.
The separation
In the first minutes of his speech, Gore credited Clinton's two terms in office for planting the seeds of the nation's record economic prosperity and the creation of 22 million new jobs, saying "millions of Americans will live better lives for a long time to come because of the job that's been done by President Bill Clinton."
That was the first and last time the charismatic president's name would be invoked on the stage by Gore.
Rather, he insisted that Clinton leaves office with much work left to be done, and he and running mate Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman are determined to get all of that work done in the course of the next few years.
"For all of our good times, I am not satisfied," Gore declared.
"How and what we do for all of you -- the people who pay the taxes, bear the burdens, and live the American dream -- that is the standard by which we should be judged," he said.
The better part of Gore and Lieberman's fight as a new administration, Gore insisted Thursday night, would be predicated on what he framed as a classic battle between the "people and the powerful." Special interests, Gore said, stand in the way of universal health care, fair wages and a return of the Democratic process to the people of the United States.
"Big tobacco, big oil, the big polluters, the pharmaceutical companies, the (health maintenance organizations). Sometimes you have to be willing to stand up and say no -- so families can have a better life," he said.
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Vice President Al Gore makes his presidential nomination acceptance speech
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Highlight of Vice President Al Gore's acceptance speech
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Vice Presidential candidate Senator Joe Lieberman speaks to the Democratic National Convention
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CNN's Judy Woodruff profiles Tipper Gore
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The Democrats' new nominee called repeatedly for the addition of a prescription drug benefit to the federal Medicare health insurance program; the implementation of a fair universal health care system; more police on the streets and a reduction in crime rates; the creation of a "crime victims' bill of rights; and getting cigarettes away from minors.
He dwelled for a handful minutes on the passage of a medical patients' bill of rights, which would allow individuals to sue their health maintenance organizations in instances when needed medical treatment is denied. Such a bill has fallen into a quagmire in Congress this year, as vast differences between competing House and Senate versions have likely spelled its doom.
"...Bean-counters at HMOs don't have a license to practice medicine and don't have a right to play God," he said.
He also sought to turn aside criticism leveled two weeks ago by Bush and his running mate, former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, who savaged the Clinton administration's defense record, saying military build-downs have brought American levels of readiness to perilously low levels and destroyed the morale of the nation's service members.
National security will be enhanced, he added, by strengthening America's military alliances, bolstering nuclear non-proliferation efforts, and broadening free trade arrangements.
"I will keep America's defenses strong. I will make sure our armed forces continue to be the best-equipped, best-trained, and best-led in the entire world," he pledged.
The extent of the attack
Gore's response to Bush and Cheney on the issue of military readiness characterized the level to which he was willing to hit back at the strident criticisms aired in Philadelphia two weeks ago.
Gore mentioned neither Bush nor Cheney by name, and steered well away from direct attacks against the Republicans, choosing instead to paint broad pictures of policy differences between the parties that could not only apply to the GOP presidential ticket, but to the Republican Congress.
He pledged to preserve a woman's right to choose to obtain an abortion, saying, "The last thing this country needs is a Supreme Court that overturns Roe v. Wade."
And he centered on sharp philosophical differences on tax policy, saying he would prefer targeted tax cuts to the blanket, five-year, $483 billion plan advanced by the Texas governor.
"I will not go along with a huge tax cut for the wealthy at the expense of everyone else and wreck our good economy in the process," he said. "Under the tax plan the other side has proposed, for every $10 that goes to the wealthiest 1 percent, middle class families would get one dime. And lower-income families would get one penny."
The Bush campaign operation, which remained relatively silent during the duration of the Democratic gathering, responded within just a few short minutes of Gore's closing lines.
Bush spokeswoman Karen Hughes framed Gore's address as a blueprint for new vision of big government, and turned many of his proposals on their ear by pointing out that many of them had been floating around Washington for some time.
"Without intending to ... he offered a laundry list of the policy failures of his own administration: From failing to prescribe prescription drug coverage for seniors, to failing to enact a patient's bill of rights, to failing to improve public schools," Hughes said in a statement.
A rebirth for Gore?
Gore's closing sentiments struck a particular chord with delegates. The president doesn't necessarily have to be telegenic and charismatic -- two words that are not often applied to the vice president -- he has to have the willingness, experience and ability to lead.
"The presidency is more than a popularity contest. It's a day-by-day fight for people. Sometimes, you have to choose to do what's difficult or unpopular," he said.
"I think the key lines are that 'I'm my own man' and that the presidency is not a photo op," said New Jersey delegate Sandra Silber. "He doesn't have to be a rock star."
"I know where Al Gore is now. I really know where he is," said Bill English, a Minnesota delegate from Minneapolis. "You don't have to guess what he's going to do. I didn't hear that out of Philadelphia."
Monica reappears
Thursday was not without its difficulties here in Los Angeles.
As the convention was gaveled to order earlier in the day, news swept the delegate floor in front of the event's main podium that the office administered by Independent Counsel Robert Ray in Washington had, some time within the last month, convened a new grand jury to further investigate President Clinton's actions involving former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, with whom he had a well-documented relationship.
Clinton was accused by former Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr of obstructing justice by attempting to cover up his relationship with Lewinsky as the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit ran its course. A report issued by Starr to the House Judiciary Committee led to an impeachment vote in the House, and Clinton's eventual acquittal during a subsequent Senate trial.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York sat on the House Judiciary Committee during the lengthy hearings on the Starr report, and voted against impeachment in committee and on the House floor. He was visibly agitated on the convention floor Thursday, saying the day's revelations were "disgusting."
"The timing is highly suspect," Nadler said. "Starr investigated this. There is no evidence of anything new, and Starr decided that there is nothing to indict."
"...And it leaks today in the middle of the Democratic national Convention?" an exasperated Nadler said.
Gore ignored the development in his speech, and many delegates regarded the news as indication that Republicans would continue to campaign against Gore based on Clinton's moral missteps. Some of those closest to the vice president voiced defiance, and expressed hope that the GOP would battle Gore into November using such a strategy.
"Bill Clinton's not running," said delegate Betty Fraley, from Gore's home state of Tennessee. "Do they not realize that? He's already beat them three times," she said, referring to 1992, 1996, and the 1998 midterm elections, "And he'd probably beat them again if he ran."
"So let them keep running against Bill Clinton," she said.
Such a strategy on the part of the GOP, others said, was emblematic of the Republican ways of the past, and a continuation of the Democrats' vision of the future.
As Ohio delegate Erin Sullivan said as she took a drag from her cigarette, "It's just like learning to drive. If you want to go forward, you put it in D. If you want to go backward, you put it in R."
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Friday, August 18, 2000
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