Gore, Gephardt Camps Wage Bitter Feud

A bitter feud that has broken out between the presidential campaigns of Missouri Rep. Richard A. Gephardt and Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore Jr. seemed to offer a precursor to the war of words the two moderates are likely to engage in once they begin fighting for the same conservative Democratic voters in the South in March.

Gephardt’s campaign manager William Carrick sparked the fight Wednesday when he used harsh language to describe both Gore and his campaign manger, Fred Martin.

Carrick’s comments came in an interview with the Washington Post, as he was arguing that Gephardt’s victory in Iowa was bad news for Gore, because it meant that Gephardt would survive the early contests to go head-to-head with Gore in the South.

‘I Hate All of Them’

Carrick said he was impatient to take on Gore. “I can’t wait. It’s blood lust. Let me at him (Gore). I hate him. I hate all of them (Gore and his campaign staffers).

“I think they are the phoniest, two-bit bastards that ever came down the pike, starting with Al Gore, moving through boy wonder, ex-wordsmith, the mosquito who roared (Fred Martin, Gore’s manager). They are just a (expletive) bunch of meddlesome bastards.”

During a campaign stop here Thursday, Gephardt said he stood by Carrick and has not asked him to apologize to the Gore camp.

“First of all, I like Bill Carrick, he’s done an excellent job for me, he’s my friend,” Gephardt told reporters. “And I stand behind him. The second thing I’d say is what Harry Truman said, if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

Offers to Apologize

Later, Carrick said he wanted to apologize to Gore for his comments, but not to Martin or other Gore aides. In fact, Carrick once again took on Martin Thursday, saying that the Gore staff had taken some “cheap, bush-league” shots at the Gephardt campaign in the past.

He said he had made his derogatory comments partly out of anger over the Gore campaign’s complaints about alleged spending irregularities in Iowa by Gephardt.

The Gore campaign, which pulled out of Iowa last year in order to concentrate on the South, has asked the Federal Election Commission to rule on the legality of the use of fund solicitation messages at the end of commercials aired in Iowa by Gephardt and Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis. Gephardt and Dukakis contend the messages mean the full cost of the commercials should not be applied to their spending limits in Iowa, but rather should be partially accounted for as a fund-raising expense.

Sees Sign of Desperation

Martin responded Thursday to Carrick’s comments by saying it was a sign that the Gephardt campaign was desperate.

“They are under a lot of pressure,” Martin said. “They have spent a lot of money, they have gone deeply into debt. And all they got out of Iowa is a muddle. Their comments are an expression of frustration with their own situation. And we are not going to respond.”