POLITICS 88 : Neck-and-Neck With Jackson and Dukakis : Gore Becomes a Serious Contender

It was a Southern celebration here on Tuesday night as the election results from around the region rolled in, showing that Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore Jr. had won more than 300 Democratic presidential delegates, had taken five states and was in contention for a sixth.

“There’s no doubt about one thing,” a beaming Gore said to his supporters in the Opryland Hotel. “This is a Super Tuesday!”

For five days, Gore has been telling reporters on his plane that “things are breaking our way,” and when he spotted one of them after his “victory” speech, he laughed and said: “Maybe now you guys will start believing me.”

Serious Contender

Gore’s showing, while far from a complete sweep of the South, was strong enough to make him a serious contender for the Democratic nomination and finally give Southern white Democrats a horse to ride in the muddled 1988 race.

Gore won North Carolina, Kentucky, Arkansas, Oklahoma and his native Tennessee and was neck-and-neck with the Rev. Jesse Jackson in Alabama.

But more important, Gore was neck-and-neck with Jackson and Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis in the delegate count. Gore’s aides projected that he would wind up with more than 350 delegates.

“Today, you and I put the Democratic Party back on the side of working men and women,” Gore told a giddy crowd of more than 500 supporters. “We are taking the Democratic Party back to the grass roots.”

That is the populist message Gore switched to two weeks ago when it appeared his campaign had stalled with its emphasis on a strong defense, while Missouri Rep. Richard A. Gephardt was having great success with his own populist themes.

Gore put his new message into television spots that also emphasized his Southern roots. And he spent an estimated $3 million to air them throughout the South.

“Al sharpened the message in the final days and we did some smart media buys,” said Gore communications director Jack Quinn.

Quinn cited Oklahoma as a state the Gore campaign carefully watched and decided that extra TV ads would give them a victory. North Carolina, where Gore had the backing of popular former Gov. James Hunt, was another state where Gore targeted his message in the final days.

He was never challenged seriously in Tennessee and Kentucky. And he competed strongly enough in states he lost, such as Georiga and Texas, to fatten his delegate totals, jar Gephardt and emerge as the moderate alternative to Dukakis and Jackson.

Tuesday night, Gore revved up the populist message, telling his supporters: “I have taken on some of the most powerful interests in this country in my career, including polluters. It is time to make a fundamental change in this country instead of tinkering around the edges.”

The latter was a gibe at Dukakis, whom Gore has called a technocrat and a representative of “the old politics.”

Standing near him on the stage was his wife, Tipper, and his parents, former Sen. Albert Gore Sr. and Pauline Gore.

The elder Gore, a white-maned old warrior for liberal causes, looked radiant as his 39-year-old son spoke.

A Great Night

It was a great night for the senior Gore, who saw his political career ended when he lost his Senate seat in a bitter battle nearly two decades ago with William E. Brock III, now the campaign manager for Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, who was the victim Tuesday of Vice President George Bush’s sweep of the South.

Albert Gore Jr. sought to compare this election to the one in 1960, noting that the then-oldest President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, was followed by one of the youngest, John F. Kennedy.

And Gore vowed to take the fight to Dukakis, whom he identifies with the more liberal wing of the party.

“This is a fight for the future of the Democratic Party,” Gore shouted, “a fight for whether we go back to the politics of the past that has led to defeat for our party, or whether we look to the future.”

As he prepared to fly today to Illinois, which votes next Tuesday, Gore said to his supporters: “Get ready to head north. We’re gonna win this thing.”