DEMOCRATIC DEBATE

	January 6, 2000
	Last night Former Senator Bill Bradley and Vice President Al Gore answered questions during a forum at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. The moderator was Peter Jennings of ABC news. Here are some excerpts.

PETER JENNINGS: Mr. Bradley, Mr. Gore brought up this question of doing without television advertising. Can you tell us what you really thought in his last debate when he held out his hand to you? BILL BRADLEY: Well, what I really thought is I said at the time that it was an interesting ploy, but he's reiterated tonight and I understand that's part of it, but, you know, the reality is that if you want to speak to people in their living rooms, you have to get to them in their living rooms. And if you know what you believe, you can communicate in 30 seconds. So I don't see that to be a problem. PETER JENNINGS: Quickly, sir, if you wouldn't mind. AL GORE: The great thing about New Hampshire is that you can actually go personally into the living rooms. And I've been enjoying that process. And both of us have had a chance to get around the state. And as for the idea that this is a ploy-- look, I'm not going to dwell on this, but hear what I said. It's a little bit different today, okay? I'm not saying that you have to agree to do away with these ads all over the country, where you say you're not as well known. I'm saying-- you pick any state. Pick any state. In New Hampshire, the polls say that you're ahead. I'm asking people to give me a come-from-behind upset victory here. BILL BRADLEY: All right. AL GORE: And I'm-- the only way this proposal would work for me is if both of us gave up the little 30-second, 60-second ads. That's part of what a lot of people don't like about our system. If we had to rely on actually being in the living rooms, if we had to rely on actually debating the details of the policies, not just once every while, but twice a week every week until the nomination is decided, I think we might have a chance to really elevate the tone of our democracy. I mean it, seriously. BILL BRADLEY: You know, Al, your underdog pitch brings tears to my eyes. AL GORE: Well, I hope that my upset victory brings tears to your eyes on February 3rd. PETER JENNINGS: You get the next question for Mr. Gore - we're getting fairly close to the end. BILL BRADLEY: Al - in 1993 - you and President Clinton supported national health insurance. We were $294-billion in debt and six years away from bankruptcy in Social Security-- in Medicare. And now are in a period of unprecedented surplus, and yet you have not proposed anything that comes close to universal coverage --not even universal access --my question to you is why not? AL GORE: I am committed to providing universal high quality affordable health care to every single American. I had a couple of events today with the greatest champion of universal health care in the United States Senate, Senator Ted Kennedy. I plan to stand and work with him in reaching high quality health care for all our people... Both of us have proposed first step, which according to independent analyst he's cover roughly the same number of people. Some of the benefits that I have proposed go to all of the American people. The steps that I propose... Let me answer, if I could. The steps that I propose build on the strengths of the current system we have. I've devoted $374 billion to the solvency of Medicare. You have not devoted one penny to insuring the solvency of Medicare. And my question for you is, why not? BILL BRADLEY: Let me respond to that because, Al basically said he set aside no money for universal coverage over his ten-year budget plan, no money to reach universal coverage. When I hear you talk, al, it reminds me of a Washington bunker. I think you're in a Washington bunker. And I can understand why you're in the bunker. I mean, there was Gingrich, there was the fundraising scandals, there was the impeachment problem. And I think that the major objective in the last several years in the White House has been political survival. I understand that. But the reality is the Democratic Party shouldn't be in the Washington bunker with you. The Democratic Party should be thinking big things with big ambitions. We should cover health care coverage for everybody. We should say eliminate child poverty in this country. And we should have the leadership to get behind it and make it happen. AL GORE: When Newt Gingrich took over the Congress, he proposed slashing Medicare, making terrible changes in a lot of the programs that helped the American people, privatizing part of Social Security. I'm proud that I stayed and fought against the Gingrich Congress. I am proud that I was where I think the American people needed a lot of folks to be-- fighting against that, preventing them from shutting down the government. BILL BRADLEY: On your issue of stay and fight, I mean - quite frankly - I've been out talking to people in the country for the last two years, and quite frankly they think a lot of people in Washington stay too long and fight too much. And I look at this and I say, what is leadership in this country? Leadership is taking a big national problem-- like FDR did, like LBJ did-- and turning it into a public issue, and then engaging in idealism of the American people to make it happen. That is leadership. We both have experience... The question is: Who has the leadership to get these big things done for the country? PETER JENNINGS: Mr. Bradley, Mr. Gore-- Mr. Gore, I apologize - I take no pleasure in cutting either of you off, but we have come to the end of our allotted time.