POLITICS 88 : Gore Stakes Out Wisconsin Race to Renew Drive

Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore Jr., hoping to rejuvenate his presidential campaign before the upcoming Democratic primaries in major industrial states, apparently has staked out the Wisconsin primary April 5 to show that he can compete in the North.

With a dismal showing in the Illinois primary last week, and polls showing him faced with a likely fourth place finish in the Michigan caucuses Saturday, Gore has been looking for a Northern state breakthrough following his mostly Southern Super Tuesday victories two weeks ago.

“This state is critical,” Gore said in a press conference Wednesday. “People are going to look back and say Wisconsin is where this race decided to change.”

Gore said he is not targeting Wisconsin for a victory. “I’m never going to imitate Babe Ruth and point to the bleachers and say this is it, live or die,” he said.

But his rhetoric and recent scheduling shifts show that he has placed a much higher priority on the state than recent contests.

Gore has rearranged his schedule to spend parts of six of the next nine days here and substantially upgraded his Wisconsin staff. He began television ads last weekend and is preparing one ad specifically for Wisconsin, using questions and answers from a town hall meeting in Appleton.

On Wednesday, he unveiled a new, decidely more populist speech before the state Legislature.

“(Vice President) George Bush wants another chance to please Ronald Reagan’s friends,” Gore said.

“I want a chance to tell the rich and the powerful their free ride is over.

“George Bush wants another chance to cut taxes for the rich. I want to put the White House back on the side of working men and women.”

Gore cast himself as a longtime crusader in Congress for middle- and low-income people.

“Ten years ago, when I learned that big chemical companies had polluted communities all over this country, I turned the spotlight on their dirty secret,” he said. “And then I wrote the law that made the companies pay to clean it up.

“When I saw that drug companies wanted to make the elderly pay too much for their prescriptions, I wouldn’t let them, and I passed the law to assure American consumers access to low-cost generic drugs.”

A recent Wisconsin poll places Gore alongside Illinois Sen. Paul Simon and Missouri Rep. Richard A. Gephardt with 10% of the vote. Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis led the poll with 35%, followed by the Rev. Jesse Jackson with 30%.