Gore, Bush, bash each other over Social Security, tax cuts
Both head east after West Coast blitz
By Ian Christopher McCaleb/CNN
TAMPA, Florida (CNN) -- Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush again focused Wednesday on states believed up for grabs in next week's presidential election, with Gore stumping in Republican-leaning Florida and Bush going after Democratic stalwart Minnesota.
In retiree-heavy Florida, Gore tore into his rival's Social Security proposal, which would allow younger workers to invest a small percentage of their Social Security payroll taxes into secure stocks. His choice of Florida for the address was intended to knock a variety of birds off a single branch with one projectile.
By all accounts, Florida and its sizable population of seniors should be leaning toward the Republican candidate -- but polls indicate the race is close. Bush's younger brother Jeb is the state's governor, and though Jeb Bush has worked diligently to get out the vote for George W. Bush, his state campaign effort is struggling.
In addition, Florida's once-reliable voting lines seem to be shifting this year. The state's seniors are split between Bush and Gore -- mostly over their differing entitlement proposals -- but new pockets of younger workers are growing in the state's urban areas.
Gore sought to appeal to both population sectors Wednesday, saying Bush's Social Security proposal could endanger their interests and strain generational relations.
"I do not believe it's right to play games with Social Security or pit young against old in a scramble to fulfill extravagant and competing campaign promises," he said in a speech in Kissimmee, in central Florida.
"When it comes to America's retirement savings program... I believe we have to strengthen Social Security by giving unprecedented new opportunities for families to save more, invest more and get higher returns," Gore said.
The Bush campaign has taken great offense at Gore's efforts to eviscerate the Texas governor's Social Security proposal, which has been one of a handful of Bush campaign centerpieces and has received hearty blessings from the congressional Republican majority.
Bush has said much of the money needed to make up for the shortfall of Social Security funds that would result from an investment regime would be sifted from an estimated $2.4 trillion Social Security surplus -- meaning, Bush has said, that seniors who now rely on monthly checks would not be adversely affected.
Gore argued Wednesday that the Bush campaign's assessment of the potential affects of the governor's plan was benign at best -- and wrong.
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Vice President Al Gore speaks at a campaign stop in Kissimmee, Florida, Wednesday
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"Gov. Bush is promising to take $1 trillion out of Social Security, and he is promising to give it to younger workers through investments in private accounts, and to many that sounds pretty good," Gore argued.
"The problem is that is the same money he is promising to seniors to pay their current benefit," he said.
"Which promise is he going to break?"
"When he was asked to clarify how he could make his numbers add up, Gov. Bush refused and said he would provide additional details after the election," Gore continued. "That's fine. We're going to win Florida and it won't matter," he said to enthusiastic cheers.
Gore pledged to preserve Social Security in its current form, while offering investment opportunities to younger workers in the form of tax incentives and private savings accounts.
"My plan doesn't rob Peter to pay Paul," he said.
Speaking in Minneapolis later in the afternoon, Bush insisted he would use a portion of the federal government's projected $4.3 trillion budget surplus to bolster Social Security -- a move he said would render Gore's complaints moot.
"Half of the surplus will go to Social Security," the Texas governor said "...I understand we've just gotten rid of Halloween. But my opponent is still trying to scare seniors in the voting booth."
At a rally later Wednesday in the Tampa area, Gore said he was the better man to fight for national environmental conservation.
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"The environment has been my cause all of my public life," Gore said. "I believe that protecting it has been the greatest cause of our generation, and I believe pollution must never be the price of our prosperity.
"If we do things right, our children will grow up with clean water and clean air... we can create a cleaner environment and build a stronger economy at the same time."
Gore continued: "I have a message for the other side when it comes to protecting the enviroment -- I have never given up, I have never backed down and I never will.
The Democratic National Committee said late Wednesday it would reinforce Gore's environmental assault with a new television ad criticizing Bush's oil policy. The Texas governor advocates opening up a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife refuge to oil exploration.
It was not clear when the ad would go into rotation, or where.
The vice president's running mate, Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, was in Florida prior to Gore's arrival, where he predicted the Democratic ticket would take the state's 25 electoral six days from now.
"But I wouldn't say it's going to be a runaway by any means," Lieberman said in a Tuesday night appearance on CNN's "Larry King Live."
"Florida reports early on election night," he added. "If we can take Florida, I think it's going to be a tough night for our opponents. That's of course what I'm hoping will happen."
Gore was expected to attend a rally in Scranton, Pennsylvania, late Wednesday night.
At his Minneapolis airport arrival rally at mid-afternoon Wednesday, Bush opted to talk tax cuts. The Republican nominee has proposed a tax relief program that would send some $1.3 trillion back to taxpayers in the course of the next 10 years.
"We've got a surplus in Washington, D.C.," he said. "Let me tell you what I think a surplus means. It means the government has got more money than it needs. That's why it's called a surplus.
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"When you have a surplus, it means our people are overtaxed, that your government is overcharging you. I propose responsible priorities for our surplus -- a balanced budget and a fiscally responsible plan."
Gore has argued to great affect that much of Bush's tax cuts would be destined for the wealthiest 1 percent of the taxpaying population. The vice president has said that such a plan would plunge the government back into the same swirl of deficit spending that plagued the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Bush said Wednesday he's been able to do it before, and he was capable of doing it again.
"It can be done. I've done it in Texas. We've delivered the two largest tax cuts in our state's history, and we've balanced our budget. I've done in office what I said I was going to do," he said.
Bush said Gore's full budget plan -- including his proposal to implement tax cuts aimed squarely at the middle class -- would explode government spending. To buttress the argument, he presented a 10-foot placard listing Gore's supposed spending proposals, which he said was all the proof anyone would need.
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Texas Gov. George W. Bush campaigns in Duluth, Wednesday
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"My opponent has a record as well -- a record of support for higher spending and higher taxes," Bush said.
"Like me, he has a plan for the surplus. He wants to spend it all and then some. He's been making promises on one side of the country and going to the other side and making promises, but we've been watching, and we've been adding them up," Bush continued.
The sum according to Bush: "Over 285 plans, new programs or expanded programs."
Later, at a thickly attended evening rally in Duluth, Bush delivered his standard stump speech, with a brief emphasis on his Social Security investment plan.
"Young people should be able to put their money in the marketplace to get a better rate of return," he said. "I understand it's a different way of thinking, but it's the right way."
Republicans have delighted in recent days in polls that indicate Ralph Nader, noted consumer advocate and Green Party presidential candidate, may be siphoning off votes that otherwise likely would go for Gore.
Oregon and Washington, which Gore visited on Tuesday, are among a handful of states that could end up going for Bush if Nader exercises significant Election Day influence.
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Green Party candidate Ralph Nader speaks at a campaign stop in Wisconsin, Wednesday
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Bush continued his tour of the area early on Wednesday -- before heading to Minnesota -- hoping to drum up votes for himself, and perhaps help Nader along in the process.
Prior to leaving the Pacific Northwest for Minnesota on Wednesday, Bush took a trip to Seattle's famed waterfront fish market, where he bought himself some smoked salmon and talked up his tax relief plans.
"I'm asking for the vote. I'm also telling the hard-working people they're going to get tax relief," Bush said early in the morning.
Nader kept up the pressure in Wisconsin on Wednesday, telling an enthusiastic crowd Madison crowd that he saw no reason for Gore to expect liberals and progressives to fall in behind his candidacy.
"Al Gore thinks he is entitled to your votes. Al Gore thinks that we're supposed to be helping him get elected," Nader said. "I've got news for Al Gore -- if you can't beat the bumbling Texas governor with that record, you ought to go back to Tennessee."
CNN's Matt Smith and Reuters contributed to this report.
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