Gore Fights Two-Front War; Bush Takes Battle to Michigan
FRANK SESNO, CNN ANCHOR: Al Gore walks a fine line on the campaign trail, mindful of the threats on his right and his left. Also ahead:</s>CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: But while George Bush is on fire, his aides are steaming.</s>SESNO: Candy Crowley on the Bush campaign and new charges of dirty politics.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four, three, two, one...</s>NARRATOR: It is the rain that we...</s>SESNO: A very controversial blast from the past now is echoing on the airwaves in Campaign 2000. Plus: We'll go in the trenches with Democrats and Republicans as they fight the political ground war.</s>ANNOUNCER: This is INSIDE POLITICS with Frank Sesno in Washington and Judy Woodruff reporting from Pittsburgh.</s>JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you for joining us. Bernie is on assignment. It is raining here in Pittsburgh but Al Gore has just arrived at this rally Carnegie Mellon University and you can you hear behind me this is a big and exciting crowd. All part of the vice president's effort today to regain lost ground in this battleground state of Pennsylvania and in neighboring West Virginia. Our Jonathan Karl reports on Gore's day and the dual nature of his campaign strategy.</s>JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even as he draws some of his biggest and most energetic crowds, Al Gore finds himself struggling to wage a two-front war in the closing days of the campaign.</s>AL GORE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because I want to fight for you. I want to fight for your family. I want to fight for West Virginia.</s>KARL: On his right flank Gore courts undecided voters, portraying himself as a fiscally conservative advocate of limited government and balanced budgets.</s>GORE: As president I will not add to the number of people doing work for the federal government not by even one position.</s>KARL: On his left flank, he courts disillusioned liberals tempted to vote for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader by ramping up his us-versus-them populism.</s>GORE: If the big oil companies and the chemical manufacturers and the other big polluters were able to communicate a message to this state, they would say vote for George Bush or, in any case, vote for Ralph Nader. They would say, whatever you do, don't vote for Gore.</s>KARL: As evidence that a vote for Nader is a vote for Bush, Gore's aides point to a new ad by a Republican group allied with Bush. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP COUNCIL AD) RALPH NADER, GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Al Gore is suffering from election year delusion if he thinks his record on the environment is anything to be proud of.</s>KARL: The ad conveniently leaves out Nader's even harsher criticism of Bush, but it's an indication that Republicans believe and Democrats fear Nader's support in a handful of swing states could drain enough from Gore to tip the scales in Bush's favor. But while Gore courts party liberals and Naderites in big rallies, he uses more formal policy speeches to tout his moderate new Democrat roots.</s>GORE: I have a simple approach to the Internet economy: government should keep its hands off -- no burdensome government regulations; no new tariffs on Internet transmissions; and a moratorium on taxes on the Internet.</s>KARL: Gore used this speech in Western Pennsylvania to propose new tax credits for corporations who invest in research and development.</s>KARL: (OFF-MIKE) Schedule for the United States is in part a road map for the threat posed by Ralph Nader. Gore plans two trips over the next week to Minnesota, a state that hasn't voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1972. But thanks to support for Ralph Nader, suddenly Minnesota is up for grabs -- Judy.</s>WOODRUFF: All right, John Karl, thanks a lot. Back on the trail for you. Now to George W. Bush. Today he is focusing on the battleground state of Michigan. One new poll there shows Bush trailing Gore by just two percentage points. Another shows the two candidates are dead even. Our Candy Crowley reports on the battle for Michigan and new evidence that the presidential race is getting nastier.</s>CROWD: No more Gore! No more Gore!</s>CROWLEY (voice-over): The crowds are big and upbeat, the candidate revved up, oozing confidence.</s>GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He trusts government. We trust the people. He trusts the federal government. We trust you with your own money to be able to make the right decisions. It is the fundamental difference in this campaign, and it's the reason why we are going to win this election because of that.</s>CROWLEY: But while George Bush is on fire, his aides are steaming over a series of taped phone calls the Democratic Party is making across Michigan. One features a Texas woman whose husband died four years ago in a nursing home. (</s>BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC COORDINATED CAMPAIGN) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When George W. Bush ran for governor, he promised to improve the quality of life for nursing home residents. But Governor Bush broke that promise when he signed legislation that weakened nursing home standards.</s>CROWLEY: Bush communications director Karen Hughes slammed the phone calls as the exploitive use of an elderly woman's tragedy, wrong on the facts, despicable, and, she says, typical.</s>KAREN HUGHES, BUSH CAMPAIGN COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: This is an officially sanctioned ad that proves that Vice President Gore's campaign will sink to the absolute depths in their effort to do anything and say anything to win election.</s>CROWLEY: Gore aides say the phone messages are absolutely accurate and fair. And while they were on the subject, they had a complaint of their own: this ad suggesting the Clinton-Gore administration made deals with China that put the U.S. in danger. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, ARETINO INDUSTRIES AD) NARRATOR: In exchange for campaign contributions, Red China was given access and sold vital technology that will now give China the ability to threaten our homes with long-range nuclear warheads.</s>CROWLEY: Now showing in a number of battleground states, the ad is an echo of one of the most famous political ads of the TV age. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, JOHNSON CAMPAIGN AD, 1964) NARRATOR: Five, four, three, two, one, zero. These are the stakes!</s>CROWLEY: The Gore people say those people responsible for the 2000 ad are "shadowy special interests" trying to save George Bush. Other Democrats suggest the ad comes from friends of their favorite enemy: Newt Gingrich. In truth, it's not clear who put this out. But their political persuasion seems obvious. The Bush campaign says there is no comparison between Democratic phone calls and the anonymous TV ad, which it is trying to track down.</s>HUGHES: Governor Bush condemns those type of anonymous attack ads. Our campaign has called this morning -- our campaign political strategist, Karl Rove, has called the individual who was quoted in the newspaper about that ad and urged that group, whoever they are, to pull down that ad.</s>CROWLEY (on camera): At the end of the day, after the attacks and the counterattacks, the accusations and the explanations, one thing is quite clear: A very tough, close election is coming to a head. Candy Crowley, CNN, Benton Harbor, Michigan.</s>WOODRUFF: We'll have more from Pennsylvania a little later in this hour. Now back to Frank Sesno in Washington.</s>SESNO: Thanks, Judy. And we'll be back to you a bit farther down in this hour. But more now on some of that state-by-state combat under way in campaign 2000. This is an interesting one. A new Minnesota poll, underscoring what Jonathan Karl reported a bit earlier: Bush and Gore running neck-and-neck in that state. And Ralph Nader is a factor there -- a big one -- with 10 percent support. In Ohio, Bush appears to have gained some ground. He leads Gore by eight points in a new survey of likely voters in the Buckeye State. And given the closeness of this presidential race nationwide, the campaigns and their allies are stepping up their efforts to get out the vote. We have two reports from the trenches now, beginning with CNN's Brooks Jackson.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we'll go to eight and you go to 10.</s>BROOKS JACKSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's not all TV. This year, the Republican Party is pouring record amounts of money into activities like this, mobilizing volunteers to do old-fashioned precinct walking: knocking on doors, shoe-leather politics.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're passing out information for the Bush campaign and a couple of others.</s>JACKSON: This is Orange County, California, a Republican stronghold in a state where Al Gore is leading. But that hasn't stopped Republicans from budgeting nearly $15 million on ground-war activities here.</s>GERALD PARSKY, BUSH CALIFORNIA CHMN.: Historically, people have said that California can only be won by raising money and buying TV. And we stepped back and said: That's not the way to win, and that we wanted a full-scale, grassroots, volunteer effort.</s>JACKSON: Republicans say they are spending three to four times more here on ground-war activities this year than in previous elections. This mail-piece promoting Bush's Social Security plan is going to more than three million California voters, targeted by computer. Overall, GOP officials say 30 million pieces of mail will arrive in voters' mail slots by Election Day.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, my name is Julie, and I'm a volunteer with the Republican Party.</s>JACKSON: And telephones.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, we're just calling to contact registered Republicans. And we're wondering if you were going to go out and vote on November 7.</s>JACKSON: The ground war includes massive calling. (on camera): Night after night, thousands of telephone calls are going out to registered Republicans from 130 California call-centers like this one. And this is by no means the largest. (voice-over): In the week before Election Day, these volunteer callers will be reinforced by millions of additional calls from commercial phone banks. And everything is centered on a huge push planned for Election Day: to get Republicans to the polls.</s>STEPHEN FOSSATI, GOP VOLUNTEER: We're asking them to help get out the vote, help get out the vote, come out on Election Day, to help other people get to the polling stations -- if they can't get there themselves, drive people -- walk precincts and try to get Republican candidates elected.</s>DEBBIE MCCALL, CALIFORNIA DIRECTOR, GOP VICTORY 2000: We have currently sort of signed on the dotted line 40,000 volunteers. And our goal is to deploy 20,000 -- 25,000 volunteers on Election Day.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone need a partner?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.</s>JACKSON: This sort of thing is going on in state after state. The national party says it's sending $35 to $40 million to state organizations for ground-war activities, more than double anything seen before. And that's in addition to what state parties raise on their own.</s>FRED MEYER, CHAIRMAN, GOP "VICTORY 2000": All these things are things that are in the 1, 2, 3, 4 percent range as far as their impact is concerned. But that can easily be the difference between winning and losing an election, especially in a close election like this one.</s>JACKSON: Republicans have discovered what organized labor concluded after the 1996 campaigns: TV can't do it all. Voters respond better to the personal touch.</s>MCCALL: I think the ground activities make a difference because voters are more inclined to trust their neighbors, their friends, you know -- some average citizen that they're working with, their kids are going to school with. You know, it's not all about what they're saying on TV. Brooks Jackson, CNN, Los Angeles.</s>JOHN KING, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is John King in Seattle, Washington.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you doing this morning?</s>KING: The Democrats' ground war begins before dawn, the volunteer army courtesy of organized labor. It is this hands-on, face-to-face contact that union leaders believe will convince union workers to turn out and vote, and to support the Gore-Lieberman Democratic ticket.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got my vote, no problem.</s>KING: Not that it's always successful.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Geez, we got a few Republicans around here.</s>KING: National AFL-CIO president John Sweeney is on the front lines in the campaign's finals days; this visit to a Seattle shipyard another reminder that the ground war will be critical in an extremely close presidential race. (on camera): Washington is the nation's fourth-most unionized state and a critical laboratory in organized labor's new hands-on political strategy. But it's also one of a handful of surprises in this year's campaign: a traditionally Democratic stronghold in presidential politics that is proving much more competitive than the vice president and his allies in the labor movement would have hoped. (voice-over): Oregon, Iowa, Wisconsin and West Virginia are also getting ground-war reinforcements because of Governor Bush's surprising strength in traditionally Democratic states. Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri and Florida are labor's remaining key targets in the final days. Those 10 states have more than 5 million union workers and offer a combined 139 electoral votes, more than half of the 270 needed to win the White House. For months the national AFL-CIO has had 900 field coordinators across the country; 300 more are being deployed this week for the final stretch and local unions are being asked to add thousands more to the get-out-the-vote effort.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm calling on behalf of the Iron Workers Local. I'm calling in support of Al Gore for president and Ron Klink for U.S. Senate.</s>KING: So labor phone banks like this one in northwest Pennsylvania are calling and recalling union workers, and the local Democratic headquarters is packed with volunteers. Fighting a ground war is meticulous, sometimes monotonous, work.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many more of these do you need?</s>KING: Signs are one weapon, mail another; but there's no substitute for the candidate.</s>CEIL CONNORS, AFSCME: I can't tell you how many telephone calls I got -- you know, Bush has been here twice, we've got to get Al Gore here.</s>KING: Labor's leaflets paint a sharp contrast between Governor Bush and the vice president.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you like information on where the candidates stand on health care?</s>KIND: But there is mounting worry in states like Washington that Green Party nominee Ralph Nader is the biggest threat to a Gore victory.</s>ANDREW STERN, SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION: Our home- care workers can't afford to wake up -- our nurses can't afford to wake up and have George Bush as their president. So that, to me, is the question that we should ask the Nader voters: can they live -- because this is not about protest votes anymore, this is about electing the president of the United States.</s>KING: So every day brings another work site visit.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going to the workers, going to our membership to talk about the issues.</s>KING: Another leaflet, another face-to-face encounter as labor puts the finishing touch on an unprecedented effort to tilt campaign 2000 in the Democrats' favor. John King, CNN, Seattle, Washington.</s>SHAW: And still ahead on</s>INSIDE POLITICS: keeping tabs on the numbers in the presidential race. We'll have the latest polls and talk with pollsters about those many differing results.