After Staid Start in O.C., Gore Loosens Up : Politics: Vice president follows rigid appearance at veterans convention with animated luncheon speech. Stops wrap up two-day California campaign swing.

Two different Al Gores appeared Wednesday in Orange County, one the oft-mocked prosaic vice president delivering somber words to American war veterans and the other an animated partisan schmoozing over lunch with local Democrats.

Wearing the cap he earned as a member of American Legion Post 57 in Gordonsville, Tenn., Gore arrived at the 81st annual American Legion national convention in Anaheim on Wednesday morning to deliver a message brimming with patriotism, sacrifice and vigilance to the 4,000 delegates.

He evoked memories of his father and uncles serving in World War II and of his own Army service in Vietnam, wistfully recalling that “some of the greatest times in my life were spent with my buddies in the Army.”

He did so with a soldier’s unwavering stance, causing photographers to groan that someone had glued his hands to the lectern.

Later, at a luncheon for the Democratic Foundation of Orange County, a loose-limbed Gore breezed through a half-hour speech with only a glance at his notes, as if he was making up for the monotone morning.

“We should not spend a penny of the [budget] surplus until we’ve saved Social Security and fixed Medicare and we’ve got to pay down the national debt and keep interest rates down, and we’ll still have enough [for] targeted tax cuts for middle-class families,” he thundered without taking a breath.

Delighted luncheon guests, who paid $45 each, tittered afterward that Gore is “getting better” at engaging a crowd.

“They’ve had some flash with Bill Clinton, but with that flash, they also got singed,” said former county Democratic Party chairman John Hanna of Santa Ana. “They’re looking for more stability, more focus on policy. Gore is very reassuring for that.”

Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly, a Democrat who welcomed the foundation to the Disneyland Hotel, said Gore’s lack of pizazz may be hurting him now but that his strongest asset has nothing to do with style.

“If the economy stays strong, that’s all he’ll need to say,” Daly said.

The twin speeches came as Gore faced some unwelcome news Wednesday. A new national poll shows that more Americans rank Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush ahead of Gore in having the qualities of a strong leader.

The speeches capped Gore’s two-day California campaign trip, during which he unveiled a children’s health care proposal in Los Angeles and presided over two fund-raisers. One fund-raiser was at a home in Beverly Hills, and another in Los Angeles was attended by about 500 members of “Gorenet,” a group established for younger computer-savvy donors.

Gore, who served as an Army reporter, told the American Legion delegates: “You have this iron-clad commitment from me: As long as I am in a position to do something about it, America will be the strongest force for peace and freedom in the entire world.”

Following Gore at the American Legion convention was Sen. Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, who brought delegates to their feet twice in a moving speech.

Hatch, who was an ROTC student briefly but is not a veteran, said the nation’s military has been “seriously eroded” under Clinton.

He also blasted Gore for opposing Hatch’s constitutional amendment to ban the desecration of the American flag, a measure backed by the American Legion but yet to receive congressional approval.

Hatch later was near tears describing how his parents revered the flag draped over the coffin of his older brother, who died in World War II.