Former California Congressman to Head Gore’s Presidential Bid

Former Rep. Tony Coelho of California, a prominent Democratic strategist, will be general chairman of Al Gore’s presidential effort, the campaign announced Tuesday.

He takes over a political operation that stumbled out of the gates but has shown signs of rebounding in recent weeks.

Campaign officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Coelho’s main task would be to give direction to a troika of interests inside the Gore team: the campaign staff, Gore’s White House staff and his outside consultants. Gore aides and Democratic operatives have complained that the three interests are often at odds.

Gore leads his only Democratic rival, former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley, by at least 20 percentage points in most polls. Gore’s poll numbers have improved in recent days, but he has been prone to gaffes, and slow to respond to the miscues.

Polls also show Gore trailing Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination.

Coelho, 56, was first elected to Congress from his Central Valley district in 1978. Within a few years, he was named head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which was nearly broke and lagged far behind its Republican counterpart in its fund-raising techniques. Coelho transformed the committee into a modern and powerful organization, in part by aggressively soliciting contributions from political action committees.

“More than all but a half-dozen other politicians and one or two other Democrats, he shaped the politics of the 1980s,” according to the Almanac of American Politics.

In 1989, however, he abruptly quit Congress amid an investigation into his personal finances. No charges were filed against Coelho, who now is an investment banker.

He headed the overall Democratic campaign in the 1994 midterm elections, but that effort ended with Republicans winning control of both houses of Congress.

Gore, in a statement, said Coelho’s “political and private-sector experience, his tireless energy and his devotion to public service will make a strong campaign even stronger.”

Campaign manager Craig Smith will continue to supervise the campaign staff and its budget.