How Al Came Back To Life

• Share

(4 of 7)

Eskew, Shrum and senior adviser Marla Romash set about fixing the message. They quit polling nationally and began focusing on what mattered to Democrats in Iowa and New Hampshire. While they found general support for the things Gore stood for--and for President Clinton as well--they were shocked by how little people knew about Gore. So in mid-October they hit the airwaves of New Hampshire and Iowa with a 60-sec. commercial designed to fill in the basics: Gore had a family, had been in Vietnam, had worked as a journalist. The ads were broadcast for weeks before Bradley's first spots went on.

BUILDING A BETTER GORE

All the staff shake-ups and ad blitzes in the world wouldn't have helped if Gore hadn't helped himself. He took on the difficult process of shedding his vice-presidential carapace and revealing himself to voters. He had a nice new riff about his Vietnam- and Watergate-era disillusionment with politics, but the New Gore wasn't always a pretty sight. He often seemed as hyper and needy as a ninth-grader on a first date. But at least voters realized that he was truly, madly, deeply committed to winning, and they liked that about him. Bradley's cool, take-it-or-leave-it approach to politicking began to pale by comparison.

The Hardest Working Man in Politics made his debut on Sept. 25 in Washington, when Gore and Bradley delivered back-to-back speeches at the fall meeting of the Democratic National Committee. Bradley, who was enjoying his big media moment, went on first. With his reading glasses perched on the tip of his nose, he gave a wry, understated speech that stressed party unity and common ideals like gun control and help for hungry children; he was warmly received. Then the O'Jays' tune Love Train started blaring, and Gore took over the stage--and the audience. He abandoned his prepared text, stepped out from behind the podium (blocking the Vice-Presidential Seal) and vowed to "work my heart out to win your vote." Some party pros in the audience called it the best Gore speech they'd ever heard. But he was just getting started.

Two weeks later, when the rivals met again at the Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner in Iowa, a gathering of 3,000 Democrats, Gore was even more aggressive. Again Bradley spoke first, lamenting the state of politics and wondering why he and Gore couldn't be more like home-run rivals Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, "pushing [each other] to be the best we could be." When it was Gore's turn, he called Bradley a quitter--Bradley left the Senate while Gore "stayed and fought"--and then neatly turned the tables on his reform-minded rival. "I listened carefully to what you had to say about making this campaign a different kind of experience," he began. "I really agree." He proposed a debate a week, each devoted to a different issue. "What about it, Bill? If the answer is yes, stand up."