New Yorkers Aren’t Swept Off Their Feet When a Reserved Gore Comes Courting

The applause was polite when Sen. Albert Gore Jr. finished laying out his agenda to a crowd of about 100 who had gathered at a VFW hall here, but something was missing.

Eugene Burns, a state Democratic committeeman at the back of the room, just shook his head. “That ain’t the real stuff,” he said. “It’s not there. There’s no message.”

Gore goes into the final two days before the crucial New York Democratic primary insisting that momentum and excitement are building around his campaign. But so far the crowds that he draws are sparse, and the polls show him trailing far behind the two leading contenders, Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

The Tennessee senator is running on the intellectual argument of “electability”--the idea that as the most centrist of the three Democratic candidates, he is more likely than either Dukakis or Jackson to beat Vice President George Bush in November. But this cool, almost regal young man in a perfectly tailored blue suit appears to have trouble getting that message across in a state where voters are swept up by passion and ethnic loyalties.

Expressed Frustration

Rep. Thomas J. Downey, Gore’s New York chairman, expressed his frustration as his candidate struggled before a particularly listless audience last week at St. John’s College in Queens. “If there’s a state where you shouldn’t be reserved, this is it,” Downey said.

Other problems run deeper. Among his most difficult is overcoming a perception that he is merely a spoiler, whose candidacy takes away from Dukakis’ support and indirectly benefits Jackson.

Gore has accused Dukakis’ camp of putting out the word that “a vote for Gore is a vote for Jackson.”

To overcome that perception, he plans to campaign today with New York Mayor Edward I. Koch, one of Jackson’s chief critics and Gore’s most prized endorsement. Koch also is featured on one of Gore’s television ads, where the mayor admonishes: “Don’t waste your vote by being negative.”

Gore reminds skeptical reporters and voters that his prospects looked no better only days before he surprised the experts by picking up six of 20 states in last month’s Super Tuesday round of primaries.

“The shovelsful of dirt were coming down on my head (before Super Tuesday). I was lying in a grave dug by pollsters and pundits,” he said. “They were wrong.”

Distant Third

But he has finished a distant third in virtually all of the primaries and caucuses since then, unable to demonstrate that his Super Tuesday victories in the South reflected anything more than regional appeal.

No matter how he does this Tuesday--and most polls show him picking up no more than 10% of the vote--Gore insists he is in the race until this summer’s Atlanta convention, with California’s final primary in June being “the key battle.” He compares his strategy to that of the Russians in World War II, trading land for time.

Often accused of lacking focus, Gore has created new problems for himself as he has tried to concentrate his message in New York.

Gore stressed his pro-Israeli record, only to be accused of pandering to the Jewish voters who make up about one-quarter of those who will vote in the Democratic primary. He attempted to portray himself as more experienced than Dukakis and Jackson--admittedly, a hard sell for a candidate who only weeks ago turned 40--only to be accused of being divisive and negative.

Neither of those reactions have surprised him, Gore said, but he has been dismayed to discover a more complex problem. Some potential supporters are saying they are afraid to vote for Gore because they think it would cut down on Dukakis’ winning margin, and therefore, help Jackson.

Current Runs Strong

This current runs particularly strong among some Jews. They have never forgiven Jackson for describing New York as “Hymietown,” and for associating with the Black Muslim leader Louis Farrakhan, an avowed anti-Semite who has described Judaism as a “gutter religion.”

“There is an unhealthy view on the part of some in the party that the principal objective ought to be to figure out the most expedient way to not have Jackson be the nominee,” Gore said. “I was surprised to feel it as strong as it was expressed. . . . It seemed to have a vehemence that I associate with more powerful feelings.”

He did not give a name to those “powerful feelings,” but it was clear that Gore meant racism.