A Kinder, Gentler Presidential Race? Don't Bet on It

Never mind Larry King; it looks as though Jerry Springer will be the better moderator for any future Bush-Gore debates. Bush, who said he wouldn't fire until fired upon in what appears to be an inevitably ugly, ugly presidential race, blasted his opponent's character and trustworthiness in an interview with the Washington Post on Wednesday. While the Gore camp calls the interview hypocritical in light of Bush's promise to run a "positive" campaign, few Americans are actually holding out any hope that we'll see two campaigns of ideas, free of personal attacks. This year, it's not the economy, stupid — we've fixed that — it's character. That's the issue that was nearly Dubya's downfall in the primaries, and it's what he hopes to parlay into a Pennsylvania Avenue zip code.

The Post interview, in which Bush said Gore has a "major credibility problem," shows that the Texas governor is wasting no time squeezing the veep's most glaring pressure point — Clinton fatigue. And while Bush opposes most forms of campaign finance reform, he's also quickly trying to carry the McCain reformist mantle by relentlessly lashing out against Gore's alleged and acknowledged fund-raising improprieties. While Gore isn't tipping his hand on the salvos he's got in store for Bush, it's only a question of time until this runoff reaches its full promise as a spectacle that will have Vince McMahon and Don King bickering over the pay-per-view rights. Gore built his primary campaign on the slogan "I'm a fighter, I want to fight for you," and he's never been one to turn the other cheek to political mudslinging. The fight's already on: Wednesday, Gore contrasted the booming economy under the Clinton-Gore administration to the "mess" of the Bush-Quayle recession."