Gore Tries to Ease Campaign Worries
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Al Gore's camp tries to persuade some key Democrats that he's still on his game, but do the presidential polls suggest otherwise? Also ahead...</s>GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Obviously, if I were to win, he would be a man that I would like to talk to.</s>GEN. COLIN POWELL (RET.), JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: In due course, we can talk about whether or not there might be a role for me in the administration.</s>BERNARD SHAW, CNN ANCHOR: Another chance for George W. Bush to face the cameras with Colin Powell and keep the cabinet questions coming.</s>WOODRUFF: Plus, call it, if you will, Rudy Giuliani's cash rebate. The Senate campaign dropout reveals what he'll do with his war chest.</s>ANNOUNCER: From Washington, this is INSIDE POLITICS with Judy Woodruff and Bernard Shaw.</s>SHAW: Thanks for joining us. When the political going gets tough, Al Gore has been known to go back home to Tennessee to try to get things back on track. He's there again today, publicly talking about education and privately trying to ease doubts among some Democrats about his campaign. Our Jeanne Meserve is with Gore in Nashville.</s>JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wingtips and Palm Pilot notwithstanding, Vice President Al Gore ran down a YMCA basketball court Thursday to help make the case for quality after- school programs for U.S. schoolchildren.</s>AL GORE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What would you be doing if you weren't here?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sitting at home watching TV. MESERVE; Gore wants to spend $6 billion over 10 years to expand after-school programs and improve them. He also is proposing a new after-school tax credit for families with children under the age of 16. Estimated cost: $5 billion. To make the case, Gore cited a recent Justice Department study showing young people were most apt to be victimized by crime between the hours of 3:00 and 7:00 p.m.</s>GORE: There's a tremendous opportunity here to use this time in a very constructive way, to build minds, and bodies, and character and values. MESERVE; While Gore was making his pitch for after care, top lieutenants, including Donna Brazil and Carter Eskew, were meeting with Democratic chairmen from 34 states at Gore's Nashville headquarters, trying to quash concerns that this campaign isn't gaining altitude. Participants tell CNN, Gore aides cited campaign research and his decisive primary victories over Bill Bradley to illustrate that the more people get to know Al Gore, the more they like him, and the party intends to give the public plenty of opportunity to know him. A Washington fund-raiser last night raised more than $26 million. Expect some of that to be spent on advertising, which will, in part, tout Al Gore as a likable, regular guy.</s>SHAW: Jeanne, will Gore himself be meeting with those state party chairs? MESERVE; Bernie, he will. He'll be going over there in about an hour's time. He's going to spend about a half an hour talking to them, we're told. He'll be thanking them for help, urging them, of course, to do even more. Campaign officials insist there is no panic among the state party chairman. They say that this just part of the cyclical nature of this campaign, and they insist that there is unanimity on the issues that should be stressed this election year. Those would be Social Security, education, health care and the like. Also, I should add Gore has a fund-raiser tonight. He's expected to net about a million dollars for the Democratic National Committee -- Bernie.</s>SHAW: In Nashville, Jeanne Meserve -- Judy.</s>WOODRUFF: Our new poll underscores why the Gore camp felt it had some explaining to do to party officials. Gore trails George W. Bush by seven points in our new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup survey of likely voters nationwide. Gore was five points behind Bush at the end of April. Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider is here. Bill, are you seeing real danger signs for Gore on this?</s>WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, he's certainly not making any headway in the polls, as you just said, and that's what's got Democrats worried. Here we have a booming economy, and Gore can't get anywhere. In a Gallup poll taken last weekend, two-thirds of Americans still think the economy's in good shape. But there are signs of nervousness out there. In January, over two-thirds of the public said they thought economic conditions in the country were getting better. That number has now dropped to a bare majority. Rising interest rates and the jittery stock market have got people a little spooked. They're beginning to wonder how long this good economy can keep going.</s>WOODRUFF: And is that affecting their choice in the presidential contest at this point?</s>SCHNEIDER: Yes. It is. Let's compare how Gore does among people who think the economy is getting better and those who think it's getting worse. Among those who think it's getting worse, Gore's support drops by 16 points. Even among people who think the economy is in good shape now but getting worse, Gore doesn't do any better. Pessimism hurts Gore, and it's rising. Right now, 37 percent of Americans think the economy is getting worse, and that is the highest level of pessimism we've seen in over a year.</s>WOODRUFF: Bill, what about in the aftermath of yesterday's China trade vote? Is any warning signs there for Gore, on the left in particular?</s>SCHNEIDER: Well, not right now. About 80 percent of Democrats and liberals are holding fast for Gore. Everyone expects labor to gnash its teeth and rend garments over the trade vote, and then stick with Gore in the fall. But there is one real sign of potential trouble, and that's Ralph Nader, who's running as the Green Party candidate. Right now, Nader's only getting about 3 percent in the national polls, which is the same as Pat Buchanan, but he has the potential to do much better. Nader's favorability ratings are much higher than Buchanan's, and even Gore's. In fact, they're about as same as George W. Bush's. Ralph Nader's strength is his image as a non-politician, as a consumer activist, and that's a big constituency, particularly on the West Coast and in the Northeast, which are Gore's base -- Judy.</s>WOODRUFF: Bill Schneider, thanks very much. Well, a number of Al Gore's allies have been working today to limit the political fallout on the China trade issue, for the vice president and for the Democratic Party. Our Jonathan Karl reports on efforts from the president on down to project an image of togetherness.</s>JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What a difference a day makes.</s>WILLIAM J. CLINTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to thank these leaders for standing with us on this important issue. This is a show of unity and a demonstration of resolve.</s>KARL: A day after the China trade vote that pitted Democrat against Democrat, the party's leaders staged a Rose Garden display of party unity. It was billed a "health care event," but symbolically, it was about moving beyond the divisive battle over trade. Party leaders are focused on retaking the House of Representatives and holding on to the White House.</s>KARL (on camera): When you were at the White House, did the China trade bill come up in any way?</s>REP. RICHARD GEPHARDT (D-MO), MINORITY LEADER: it did. The president said we went through a fight yesterday, and we didn't all agree on it. We've got to find unity now in all of these other issues. And across town, the head of the AFL-CIO, which lead the battle to defeat the China trade bill, reaffirmed his allegiance to Al Gore, despite Gore's support for the bill.</s>JOHN SWEENEY, AFL-CIO PRESIDENT: I think that the vice president stands on his commitments when we endorsed him in Los Angeles last August -- last October, and we will be working with the vice president very aggressively to mobilize our members around his election.</s>KARL: It's all about Democratic unity, but there may be spoilers to the party. Three of the America's largest unions -- the Teamsters, the United Auto Workers, and the Steelworkers -- are all reluctant to commit to Al Gore in light of the China vote. They are also saying Democratic House members, such as freshman Dennis Moore, who voted yes on China trade, may pay a price.</s>CHUCK HARPEL, TEAMSTERS UNION: Here's a guy that we did everything we could to get elected. We brought him to the dance, and he wasn't there for us on this vote, and this is a tough issue for him. He's a very good man, but I can see in knowing our membership there, I can see our members not going out and being excited about this man.</s>KARL: Minority Leader Dick Gephardt says he understands the frustrations of unions like the Teamsters.</s>GEPHARDT: But I hope and believe they will also look at what it would mean to working families in this country if we were able to get a majority again in the House on all this other legislation.</s>SHAW: That report from correspondent Jonathan Karl. We're joined now by the AFL-CIO's political director, Steven Rosenthal. How will yesterday's vote affect the labor troops in the trenches this fall in getting out the vote?</s>STEVEN ROSENTHAL, AFL-CIO POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, we've seen union turnout increase in the last few elections, and it's largely been driven by people on the ground, by union members talking to each other, visiting each other at work, talking to each other at home on the phones, and we're concerned that the people who are on the front lines, who do that work and drive the big turnout, are the ones most put off by this vote, and therefore, you know, will sit on their hands as we get closer to the November elections.</s>SHAW: Are they justified in being put off?</s>ROSENTHAL: Absolutely. This an issue that cuts very deep for union member. It's one that, to a lot of unions, isn't just another vote, it's the only vote. It tells them more which side a member of Congress is on. It's a basic jobs issue to them.</s>SHAW: But isn't it a shortsighted attitude? You just had your boss, John Sweeney, say in John Karl's piece -- quote -- "We'll work aggressively to mobilize our members." Yet on the other hand, you say that there are disgruntled people. And the question is: If labor sits on its hands in the election this fall, how will the Democrats regain control of the House, which you want them to do?</s>ROSENTHAL: Our goal is to ensure that there is a pro-worker majority in Congress and somebody in the White House who is going to stand with working people. We think Al Gore is an outstanding candidate and has consistently stood with America's working families. We have a disagreement on this issue, but as President Sweeney said earlier today, we're going to do everything we possibly can to put the kind of organization in place we need to ensure that there is a very big union participation in the fall. The problem around a vote like this is that as the activists decide not to get involved, to tone things down, it makes it tougher for us to ensure that union members will register and turn out.</s>SHAW: Do you foresee having to expend unexpected millions of dollars to drive your troops to the polls?</s>ROSENTHAL: What labor unions bring to the table really isn't the money. Corporations outspent labor 11-1 in the 1996...</s>SHAW: No, I mean internally.</s>ROSENTHAL: Yes.</s>SHAW: Just to mobilize your troops.</s>ROSENTHAL: Sure.</s>SHAW: You have a problem on your hands now?</s>ROSENTHAL: Yes. The problem though is going to be getting our activists excited and mobilized to ensure that they do the kind of things necessary. Politics has become so impersonal and campaigns are so focused on electronic communications that nobody does the kind of one-on-one contact anymore that we do. The strength of our program for the last few years is that we've had a unified labor movement and we've had activists who are going out and talking to people again. We're going to put the machinery in place to do that. I think there will be a huge union participation. This vote made it much tougher for us.</s>SHAW: Steven Rosenthal, do you fear globalization?</s>ROSENTHAL: We don't fear globalization at all. In fact, we've put together many, many programs over the last few years aimed at ensuring that American workers are treated fairly in the global economy. The problem with globalization right now though and the problem with this deal is that there need not be a race to the bottom. There should be a race to the top. We need to be looking at ways that we can raise workers' living standards around the world to ours, not lower ours to theirs, and lose good American jobs in the process.</s>SHAW: Technically, do President Clinton and Vice President Gore have a responsibility in helping you re-energize your base?</s>ROSENTHAL: Absolutely. It's going to be extremely important that the vice president for the next several months go into union halls, talk to union members, put out an agenda that working families connect with. We're convinced that he has that agenda, that he will be out there, and that as we go through the next several months, we'll see an Al Gore who is a very -- gets an enormous amount of support from America's trade unions.</s>SHAW: Let's look at this a little closer, specifically, what does Al Gore -- what does Bill Clinton have to do -- I sense that your attitude is, you guys got us into this mess, help get us out. Specifically, what ought they be doing between now and November 7?</s>ROSENTHAL: Well, first off, this isn't a fight that the labor movement wanted to have and certainly didn't want to have it right now. The president put the issue forward and it's created we think an awful problem as we get closer into the election season. What do they need to do? They need to come out with a reindustrialization policy, they need a policy that will connect with American workers and Vice President Gore needs to go out and talk about that program. He needs to go into Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Missouri, the key battleground states in this presidential race and talk about the issues that really matter to America's working families.</s>SHAW: You think Gore and Clinton are listening?</s>ROSENTHAL: I know they must watch your program.</s>SHAW: One last question: How many jobs will be lost by presumed passage by the Senate of this trade bill?</s>ROSENTHAL: I don't know the exact number of jobs, I do know that there have been studies done that show that there will be an enormous job loss, and that, as I said earlier, what we're seeing here is deterioration of decent American jobs, wages, benefits, rights and overall living standard for American workers. That's what we think was at stake by this the vote and that's why we're doing so much -- that's why we did so much to try to stop it and, frankly, why we're now in a position where we've got to go out there and convince American workers that there are a lot of candidates who have a policy that connects with them and urge them to register and vote.</s>SHAW: I fibbed a little bit. This is my last question: Richard Gephardt, the man from Missouri, wants to be speaker of the House. Vice President Gore wants to be president of the United States. Given yesterday's vote, which is more important -- electing Gephardt as the next House speaker or?</s>ROSENTHAL: What we're going to try to do is help shape this -- the election so that it's an election about issues that matter to workers. We'll be out talking about Social Security, Medicare, pensions, health care, and we'll put the issues before union families. We'll let them see the -- where the candidates stand for president, for Congress, up and down the ballot, and we'll let them decide how to vote and what the most important issues are to them.</s>SHAW: But, sir, you are the political director of your union, a very powerful and influential union, you mean to say that you are not zeroing in on the speakership and saying, we want Gephardt up there and we're going to work to do it?</s>ROSENTHAL: Well, actually, the AFL-CIO is an umbrella organization for 68 unions, and each union has its own program in place aimed at trying to look at the candidates and to mobilize voters, union voters on behalf of those candidates. So as we go through the season, certainly it's important to us to see Al Gore in the White House. That is critical, and to have a pro-working family majority in Congress. I don't think I could pick one above the other.</s>SHAW: Steven Rosenthal, AFL-CIO political director, interesting, thank you.</s>ROSENTHAL: Thank you.</s>SHAW: Quite welcome. And still ahead here on</s>INSIDE POLITICS: another meeting for Colin Powell and guess who? George W. Bush.</s>BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A legend, a hero and something more -- a superstar. Politicians like to be seen with him.</s>SHAW: Bruce Morton takes a look at the retired general's star appeal.