Gore Tailors His Message of Change to Student Audience in Missouri : Politics: His speech stresses jobs and environmental protection. He says Bush, Quayle have sapped the idealism of American youth.

If youth embraces change better than their elders, then a gathering of potential first-time voters is the best audience for the Democratic presidential ticket’s message of political revolution.

Clearly that was the idea foremost on vice presidential nominee Al Gore’s mind Sunday as he retooled his standard stump message to reflect the prime concerns of his audience at the University of Missouri--jobs after graduation and environmental protection.

The Tennessee senator stuck closely to his familiar theme that the best way to change America is to replace President Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle with Bill Clinton and himself. But this speech marked the first time that he sold the Clinton-Gore ticket solely along generational lines.

Gore said young Americans--like their counterparts who once lived behind the Berlin Wall and those who demonstrated for democracy in China--often recognize the need for political and social change before their elders are willing to embrace new ideas.

“When change comes in our world and in our country, it is often young people who recognize the extent of the change before others who are perhaps more used to things as they used to be, more set in their ways and more reluctant to make the adjustments that are necessary to do well and prosper and make sense out of the new world that is now emerging,” Gore told the predominantly youthful crowd estimated at between 2,500 and 3,000.

Gore acknowledged that “circumstances in our nation are completely different” from the more life-threatening changes that shook Eastern Europe and China. “Yet the forces of change are coming, and young people are helping to lead the way here,” he said. “And yet there’s ferocious resistance to the change we all know deep down must take place.”

To drive home that point, Gore pointed out that he and Clinton want to produce jobs and protect the global environment, while the Bush-Quayle Administration argues that Americans must pick one or the other.

“For those like Bush and Quayle, who say that we have to choose between jobs on the one hand and the environment on the other hand, I say: ‘You’re dead wrong,’ ” Gore said. “I’m telling you I believe with all my heart this nation can create millions of new jobs by leading the way instead of dragging our feet.”

He also pitched the Clinton-Gore promise to provide a federal apprenticeship program for young people who choose not to attend college, as well as a public-service jobs program that young people could use to finance their education after high school.

Becca Lambe, president of the Missouri Students Assn., set the tone for Gore’s remarks in her introduction, saying the primary concern of her classmates is finding employment.

“This country needs a strong economy where we can find jobs after graduation,” she said.

Gore also argued that the Bush-Quayle Administration has sapped the youthful idealism of American students.

“What we face is cynicism, disappointment, denial, despair” engendered by more than a decade of Republican White House policies that place more emphasis on wealthy people than middle-class families, Gore said.

“Somehow we’ve developed the attitude (that) we don’t have to take the responsibility for what we do and we don’t have to worry about the world you will have to live in when you’re in your 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s, that we don’t have to worry about those that come after you,” Gore said to applause and cheers. “I think that is an ethical issue, and I think that this whole philosophy of ‘get it while you can, don’t worry about tomorrow’ is wrong.

“We need to change our values in this country to get back to traditional values,” he said. “Our great-grandparents would have difficulty understanding this short-term outlook that emphasizes greed and exploitation.”

Gore’s campus address hit home with some students, like 18-year-old Brian Mathus, who said he would cast his first-ever presidential vote for Clinton and Gore. “I’ve already written home for my absentee ballot,” said Mathus of St. Louis. “I was especially impressed that he targeted his message to us as students.”

Melissa Gilliam, another Missouri student, said Gore’s speech was “impressive” because “he did a good job of getting the crowd motivated.” But she added that she remains undecided. “I haven’t heard what the other side has said.”

Gore had a message for those who had made up their minds: “Ladies and gentlemen, students, reach out for others who are still undecided, regardless of what party they might be in or whether they belong to a political party at all,” and tell them to vote for change, he said.

Later in the day, Gore spoke at a town meeting in Springfield, Mo.