POLITICAL BRIEFING

TARGETING GORE: Democratic heavyweights have made much of their belief that vice presidential candidate Al Gore will help the ticket by bringing expertise in two areas where presidential nominee Bill Clinton is weak: foreign policy and the environment. But Republicans think they can turn the tables on that strategy. . . . A special GOP hit team on hand at last week’s Democratic Convention in New York indicated that some of Gore’s initiatives on the clean-air front will be attacked as economically harmful. One of his proposals, for instance, will “rob jobs” from coal miners, the GOP claimed. Also targeted will be the Tennessee senator’s opposition to the placement of Pershing II missiles in Europe in the ‘80s--a Ronald Reagan Administration thrust widely credited with helping force Soviet officials to engage in serious arms control talks. . . . In a probable preview of the rhetoric to come, one Republican said: “I’d rather have a President who knows nothing about foreign policy than one who listens to Al Gore.”