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JIM LEHRER: Al Gore, of course, is the center and the purpose his convention
and some are still asking: who is he really? Well, Gwen Ifill goes for
some answers.
GWEN IFILL: To help us with that, I'm joined by Ned McWherter, governor
of Tennessee from 1987 to 1995; Peter Knight, longtime aide to Congressman
and Senator Al Gore-- he was campaign manager of the Clinton/gore reelection
in 1996; and Bill Turque of Newsweek magazine-- he's author
of the biography, "Inventing Al Gore."
Bill Turque, "Inventing Al Gore." Why is it that we're still
at this point after eight years of him as vice president where he is
being introduced once again tonight to the American public?
BILL TURQUE: Well, I think part of it, Gwen, is it is a very tough sell
to convince voters the vice president is a player. By its very nature
it's one where you are not entitled to your opinions in the public,
you are there to reverberate the policies of the President and Al Gore
is a man of very strong, sometimes outspoken opinions. Fortunately for
the last eight years, most of them were expressed in private. It's taken
him a while to sort of unlearn those habits as Vice President to become
a presidential candidate. I think it will take a little longer for voters
to get the sense he is his own guy.
GWEN IFILL: Governor, you have known Al Gore and his family for many
years. And you've kind of watched whatever transformation, if indeed
that's what this has been, over that time. What does he have to do now
to make himself presidential in everyone's eyes?
NED McWHERTER: I think we know him well in Tennessee. I've known him
all his life as a congressman, as a senator; now he's Vice President
of the United States. When we leave here this afternoon and tomorrow
I believe that Al Gore will articulate the issues this afternoon that
a message will go out that we'll run this campaign on, and it will show
his vision for the next eight years as President of the United States,
the first decade of this century. You will see that tomorrow.
GWEN IFILL: What is that vision?
NED McWHERTER: I think that vision are the issues that he is concerned
about, and those are basic issues for working men and women across this
country and the senior citizens, prescription drugs for senior citizens,
be sure that our Social Security system is secure, education, pay down
the debt -- there are a lot of issues that people are concerned about
like myself, that we'll know who Albert Gore is when we walk away from
here tonight and tomorrow.
GWEN IFILL: Peter Knight, after eight years of prosperity, why is it
that tonight we keep seeing polls showing Vice President Gore consistently
behind George W. Bush? And what does he do to be able to take the credit
for that; that is the years of prosperity, not for being behind?
PETER KNIGHT: I don't think the polls mean too much right this minute.
I think they are very fluid during this period of time. But I think
what we want to use during this time period is to let the American people
in on the family of Al Gore, the greater life of Al Gore, to see him
as a principled fighter for working families, to see him as a family
man who made a decision to go to Vietnam, and then after coming back
from Vietnam committing himself to public service. A lot of people...
It seems unusual to Governor McWherter and myself, knowing him for as
many years as we have, the American people don't know a lot about him.
We're looking forward to that - for him to open up himself to the American
people tonight.
GWEN IFILL: It's been a very curious week, so much emphasis on Al Gore
and his family. We didn't see that very much at all at the Republican
Convention. What is it about Al Gore and the tableau of his family that
tells people who he is?
PETER KNIGHT: Well, I think that we're very proud of his family. We're
proud of his record of accomplishments in office. We're proud of the
fact that he has committed himself to public service. We want to tell
that story -- in contrast to the other convention that really had an
illusion of inclusion and didn't really want to talk much about George
Bush. We want to talk about Al Gore, because the more people understand
and know him, the more they know his family, the more they are going
to like him and know him as Governor McWherter and I do.
GWEN IFILL: Bill Turque, after watching Al Gore and writing this book
about him, do you have any kind of sense about if he were to actually
be elected what kind of President Al Gore would be?
BILL TURQUE: Well, I think economically he would probably follow pretty
much the Clinton formula. I don't think he wouldn't do anything to tinker
seriously with how they managed the economy. He would probably hold
over some of Clinton's key economic appointments. I think you would
see a big emphasis on environmental protection. He has been very concerned
for a long time about the long-term consequences of global warming;
he's been very interested in the effects that information technology
can have on people. I think he would try to do something to sort of
narrow the so-called "digital divide." I think he cares about
civil rights. I don't know how that will translate legislatively but
that has always struck a deep chord with him. And I think that in foreign
policy, he would probably be quicker to intervene perhaps than President
Clinton has been in situations overseas. I think it would be a demonstrably
different presidency than the Clinton presidency.
GWEN IFILL: Governor, let's assume for a moment you know one Al Gore,
and the American public by and large knows another one. How does he
bridge that gap tonight?
NED McWHERTER: I know an Al Gore that's a lot of fun. I campaigned with
him in Tennessee and he campaigned with me when I was running for governor.
And we had a lot of fun going across the state visiting, joking. He
is the biggest joke teller you would find on the caravan. I look at
Al when he gets to an issue, when you cover Al with television and any
of the media, when he gets to that issue, it's very important to him.
And he wants to come across and be very sincere about it. That's the
same Al Gore I know. He is fun, he is sincere. And he brings both of
those... he brings the best of both of those to a friendship and to
an issue.
GWEN IFILL: Okay. So, Peter Knight, how do you think he does that tonight?
How does he meld the fun and sincere in an hour-long policy speech at
this convention?
PETER KNIGHT: Well, I think that what he is going to do is talk about
the issues and some of the contrasts. I think it's really important
for the campaign that we get a chance to talk about investing in education,
that securing the retirement system and to make sure middle- class tax
cuts and to talk about those issues that are of distinction. But he's
going to open himself up; he's going to talk about his experience in
Vietnam and how that really changed his life entirely, that he came
back from that wanting to commit himself to public service. I think
that's a real distinction here that we want to bring out to the American
people.
GWEN IFILL: How much time does he have to spend making the distinction
between himself and George W. Bush?
PETER KNIGHT: I think it will be mostly about himself. I think he will
talk about his family. I don't think it will be so much in the comparison.
Senator Lieberman certainly did that quite effectively last night.
GWEN IFILL: As Vice President, of course, Al Gore, Bill Turque, is the
person that was to be the attack dog over the last eight years. Does
he leave that behind or does he have to be the one to take the fight
to George w. Bush?
BILL TURQUE: I think it will be a delicate dance, because he has a difficult
role to play. He has to explain more of who he is and what he wants
to do, but he is also going to have to very explicitly take the battle
to Governor Bush. And I think President Clinton laid out the issue terrain
very explicitly Monday night, and I think you will see the vice president
follow up on that.
GWEN IFILL: Peter Knight, after having run this campaign in 1996, the
same kind of campaign, you are very familiar with all the competing
interests within the Democratic Party, some of which we've seen on display
this week. How does Al Gore begin to bridge all those gaps?
PETER KNIGHT: I think he's doing that, the convention is a time to do
that to bring all of the people together, have a good time, and to get
ready for the battle that's going to be there in the fall. I think he's
brought people together in a wonderful way and we've had a good time
at this convention. But we know that in the fall it's going to be a
hard fought battle, and we'll be ready for it.
GWEN IFILL: What are the hardest fights you are looking forward to,
Governor McWherter?
NED McWHERTER: Well, I am looking forward to trying to do what I can
to help him in Tennessee. Since the last campaign., we've elected a
Democratic governor in Alabama. We have one in Mississippi. We have
a new Democratic governor in Georgia. We're going to be in those states,
and we're going to be in the battle in those states. It will be tough.
We've lost those states in the past, but we'll be there this time.
GWEN IFILL: I'm sure you remember in 1992 when Bill Clinton left this
convention, he had to reconstruct himself as the man from Hope. It's
interesting in some ways that Al Gore has to do the same thing.
NED McWHERTER: Al is from Carthage. And he will go across this country
and do very well. Issues... as we go into the next century, issues are
important to people, in my opinion. And Al has the ability and the capability
of bringing those issues to the forefront, and achieving a result in
the period of the first decade. And that's what I'm looking forward
to: A baby boomer, new generation-type campaign, new generation-type
issues that concern the people, and I believe you will see that development.
That's what I want to see as an older person.
GWEN IFILL: We have a southerner in Governor George W. Bush against
a southerner in vice president Gore. Exactly how do you take that fight?
NED McWHERTER: I think this fight will go right down to the wire. I
think we've all got to get up early every morning. We have an old philosophy
in Tennessee: "Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and
organize." And you will see us follow that philosophy right down
to election night. (Laughter)
GWEN IFILL: So Bill Turque, what's the biggest thing that Al Gore has
to do over the next few months in order to change people's minds or
have people make up their minds about him?
BILL TURQUE: I don't think there is a lot of doubt about the breadth
of depth of his resume. Everybody knows he is a smart guy, everybody
knows he's held a lot of important jobs. I think what Al Gore has to
show is that he has the capacity to lead, that he has the capacity to
mobilize people, to inspire them and to show that he can put together
coalitions and contrive agendas, and that he is a leader, because right
now the polls show people have real doubts about that.
GWEN IFILL: How about doubts about Al Gore's connections to Bill Clinton?
How much can afford to embrace Bill Clinton, or step away from Bill
Clinton, or to be his own man in the next few months?
PETER KNIGHT: It's clearly a complicated relationship. We're very proud
of the accomplishments of the administration, and they are very close
personally, but he is running on his own. You know, President Clinton
has said many times, and Al Gore will say that this is a really historic
opportunity with the prosperity and the surplus we have. How are we
going to help working families, not just the few, but all Americans?
This is a really important opportunity and he will talk about that vision
this evening.
GWEN IFILL: Give us a little bit more preview about what he has to say
tonight.
PETER KNIGHT: I wouldn't even pretend to do that. I don't want to give
any preview at all. I will let him do that. But I think it's going to
be a very moving speech. I think he's going to talk about himself, he's
going to talk about commitment to public service, and he is going to
also talk about the issues and differences and stark contrasts there
are between these two candidates.
GWEN IFILL: Peter knight, Bill Turque, and Governor Ned McWherter, thank
you all very much.
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