NRA, Big Tobacco, HMOs Influence Bush, Gore Says

Al Gore excoriated George W. Bush on Wednesday for his ties to the tobacco, health insurance and gun industries, suggesting their huge campaign contributions influenced Bush to take positions sympathetic to the donors--and perhaps contrary to his own “basic common sense.”

“Why is Gov. Bush taking the positions like the ones he’s taking? Well, tonight we see one of the possible answers to that question,” Gore said. The vice president referred to a black-tie fund-raiser in Washington, which raised $21.3 million, that was co-chaired by a top National Rifle Assn. official.

“He’s [Bush] sitting down at a multimillion-dollar fund-raising event co-chaired by the National Rifle Assn. and Philip Morris and the HMOs,” Gore said.

“Similarly, he has opposed the national patients’ bill of rights and the prescription drug benefit that I talked about here today, and the HMOs are there helping him in his campaign tonight,” he added.

Gore, who will likely face the Texas governor in the November presidential election, called a brief news conference here to raise the issue.

The Bush campaign fired right back, issuing this statement:

“Less than one week after the FBI questioned the vice president about the Democrats’ potentially illegal fund-raising practices, Al Gore once again showed his lack of credibility by criticizing Gov. Bush for tonight’s completely legal fund-raiser.

“Many Americans will view his remarks as hypocritical, given all the illegal money Al Gore helped the Democrats raise. In fact, Al Gore and the Democrats have returned more illegal money than most Republicans ever raise. When it comes to the ethics of raising money, some may conclude that Al Gore is an imperfect messenger.”

Gore also suggested that Bush’s opposition to allowing the federal government to regulate nicotine as a drug may be based on contributions from the tobacco lobby.

The vice president conceded that he lacks proof of any quid pro quo but argued that he was raising a legitimate question.

Noting Bush’s support that led to the overturning of a 125-year-old ban on guns in Texas churches and synagogues, Gore said:

“Now I think it was a fair question to ask whether or not he would have done that on his own . . . or whether instead he did that because the NRA had enough influence with him to get him to jump through that hoop, even though I think he looked kind of foolish jumping through that hoop.

“In all these instances, he has gone against public opinion and, I would argue, against his basic common sense and has ended up taking the same position as the co-chair of his big fund-raiser tonight--Wayne LaPierre, the representative of the NRA.”

LaPierre is the NRA’s executive vice president.

Gore said, “I think it does raise the question: How close are they? Why does he always do exactly what the NRA says he should do?”

Asked to respond to Bush’s frequent charge that Gore will say or do anything to get elected, Gore retorted tersely: “I think he has a repetition problem.”

Earlier in the day, Gore visited a senior center here to tout his proposal to add prescription drug coverage to Medicare, the federal health care program for the elderly.

To highlight his message, he accompanied Shirley Kindle, a 65-year-old grandmother, to a drugstore as she bought $506.34 in prescription medications. The price tag exceeds her monthly Social Security income by $10.34.

To make ends meet, Kindle said, she sometimes skips visits to specialists to avoid the co-payments; at other times, she borrows money for medical expenses.

“Seniors are stretched to the limit,” Gore told about 100 seniors as he vowed to press for the drug benefit, calling it a much-needed “new pillar of health care for seniors.”