Gore Answers His Critics, and Others, at N.H. Forum

In high-water khakis revealing 3 inches of ultra-shiny black cowboy boots, his ever-present Palm Pilot strapped, gunslinger style, to his waist, Al Gore was ready.

“Have at it,” he told the audience, arms stretched out at his side.

“I understand you’re the environmental vice president,” someone said. “You’re the man, right?”

“I’d like to be the environmental president too,” Gore replied. The questions kept on coming.

Reinventing government? “It has been one of the most exciting projects I’ve ever worked on. I want to take what I’ve learned there and revolutionize the way the federal government does business.”

Pornography on the Net? India, Pakistan, China and Taiwan? President Clinton and Monica S. Lewinsky? Cloudy tap water? UFOs? Yes, UFOs. On most topics, the vice president had something to say, and in detail, of course.

This was Gore in his much-touted breakout from the vice presidential cocoon, meeting New Hampshire voters in his first no-holds-barred, shoot-me-your-toughest-question “open meeting” here.

It was time to wonk and roll.

Before, when Gore tried this shtick, it was called a “reverse town meeting.” He asked the questions. What a flop. It only spotlighted the perception that the vice president was isolated and needed to ask voters what was going on.

So Thursday night, he fielded about two dozen questions, working the floor of the Dover Middle School gymnasium for two hours in the talk show host style that is de rigueur in ‘90s politics.

The idea, unveiled three weeks ago when he shook up his campaign structure, was to tear up his script, drop his native-bred formality and show the voters the real Al Gore. He had to do something to counter the surging Bill Bradley campaign.

The audience here was made up of 150 voters who had told callers from the Gore phone bank that they were undecided in the Democratic primary, to take place Feb. 1.

Indeed, there was the Democrat who said he was leaning toward supporting Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the darling of the campaign finance reform set.

“Talk me out of switching to Independent [party registration] to vote for McCain,” he challenged the vice president. Gore praised McCain’s proposal to rein in campaign fund-raising and promised, as president, to give the issue “the highest priority.”

Laurie Malizia told Gore that “our country’s in a mess” and demanded “an honest man and a moral man.” Her reference was clear.

Gore responded: “I want to take my own values of faith and family to the presidency. I understand the disappointment you feel. I felt it myself.”

Later, Malizia said she was nearly sold on Gore but was still considering Republican Gary Bauer, who courts the Christian right. Still, Gore connected. “He looked at me straight in the eye and said he himself [was] disappointed in the actions of the president,” she said.

For Matthew Pickering, a seventh-grade student, the issue was the cloudy water from the kitchen tap. From Gore he learned about the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, a federal-state partnership, and got a promise: “I will get on it.”

Then, Gore’s eyes fell on two glasses of clear water left out for him. He carried one to Matthew. “That’s for starters,” he said. “I don’t want you to have to wait too long.”

Such is the tenor of the current Gore campaign.

With it comes the occasional backhanded compliment that passes for success in the Granite State’s voter-by-voter ground war. This one came Friday morning at another voter forum:

“I came today just to see how boring you could be,” said Ronald Tornow, a 62-year-old self-described lifelong Republican, “and I’m thoroughly disappointed.”