Gore Criticizes Bush on War on Terror
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: This next report some might find alarming. For the first time, former Vice President Al Gore has publicly criticized President Bush's handling of the war on terrorism. Last night, Mr. Bush's Democratic challenger in the 2000 presidential race took him to task for, among other things, failing to capture al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. CNN political analyst Ron Brownstein joins us from Miami. And one of those, among other things, was the economy that Al Gore criticized Bush for. Is this a dangerous move, political suicide? Or does he have to do this to kind of stay out in front?</s>RON BROWNSTEIN, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": Risky, but necessary, as your question implies. I don't think Al Gore has decided that he wants to run again in 2004. But he clearly has decided that he wants to have the option of running again in 2004. And that's required him systematically, Fredricka, in these last few months, to begin becoming more visible and more pointed in his criticism. It really began down here in Florida at Orlando at the state party convention about three months ago and since then he has tried to reassert himself as a leader of the Democrats. And that requires him to take the risk of criticizing President Bush on a variety of fronts at a time when most congressional Democrats have been reluctant to do so, especially on the war.</s>WHITFIELD: Yes, an incredible risk, some might say, particularly because we are in the throes of a war.</s>BROWNSTEIN: Well, it's begun, you know, it's interesting that Al Gore isn't the first Democrat to raise this question about whether the administration's strategy was successful.</s>WHITFIELD: Right.</s>BROWNSTEIN: John Kerry, Senator John Kerry has raised questions about Tora Bora. One thing that the attacks of September 11 did, Fredricka, is I think it reestablished credibility as commander-in- chief as an important stepping stone to the presidency. And I think it requires the Democrats to address President Bush on national security. A lot of the congressional leadership has had the view of let's embrace him on the war, try to neutralize that as an issue and focus on domestic concerns. But the people who want to be president ultimately have to be credible and that, I think, does impel them toward taking the risk of criticizing, at times, the president's performance in that area.</s>WHITFIELD: So in order to be taken serious you have to take some risks. Let me read a couple of quotes from Al Gore during that fund- raiser. On bin Laden, he says, "They haven't gotten Osama bin Laden. They've refused to allow enough international troops to enter Afghanistan to make sure this country doesn't slide back under the control of these warlords. And on the economy, on corporate corruption, most recently Gore says, "I believe that a president of the United States facing this kind of situation ought to be restoring confidence in our economy and ought to be instructing the people in charge of these agencies to lay down the law. Well, how much of this is I'm still angry over decision 2000 or is this don't forget me because I'll be back?</s>BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think it's more the latter than the former. I mean he's laying out some of the lines of division that would be there if he does run again. The first argument, about the use of American forces as peacekeepers goes back to a central argument they had in their presidential debates. They had extended exchanges with Gore defending the Clinton administration posture of using American troops in places like Bosnia as part of nation building and Bush condemning that. Interestingly, the president now talking about nation building for the Palestinians, though not with American troops. The other line of criticism about the use of, or the appointment of former industry officials to head various regulatory agencies is something that is going to intensify from Democrats. Clearly, they see the administration links to business in a variety of fronts, from the energy regulation to environmental regulation, as a potential vulnerability, especially with this backdrop of scandal, and Gore is somewhat at the leading edge of that. It's something you're probably going to hear a lot of in the congressional election and in the congressional debate leading up to that this fall.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, looking forward to that. Ron Brownstein, thank you very much, from Miami this evening.</s>BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.