Campaign ’88 : Gore Woos Long Island

Billing himself as the alternative to candidates backed by “pollsters and power brokers and pundits,” Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore Jr. devoted a day of campaigning Friday to Long Island, a region his campaign is counting on to help restore his waning presidential bid.

Gore, shown by polls of New York Democrats to be far behind Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis and the Rev. Jesse Jackson as the April 19 primary nears, took another crack at Dukakis, labeling as unrealistic Dukakis’ assertion that he would be able to conclude a strategic arms limitation treaty with the Soviet Union by the time of the superpower summit next month.

“Based upon my knowledge of where the negotiating teams are at this point, no, I don’t think that’s realistic,” said Gore, who has positioned himself as an expert on arms control and has suggested that Dukakis “doesn’t know what he’s talking about in foreign policy.”