Vice President Accepts the Nomination as ‘My Own Man’

Al Gore, facing an unsettled party and a doubting public, stepped forward Thursday night as “my own man” and pledged to use this time of plenty to build a “better, fairer, more prosperous America.”

In a speech concluding the Democratic convention--and holding huge stakes for his presidential candidacy--Gore sought a measure of credit for the country’s economic boom during his eight years as vice president. But he said the nation can do better.

“For all our good times, I am not satisfied,” Gore said. “Together, let’s make sure that our prosperity enriches not just the few but all working families.”

At the same time, Gore strived to forge an identity apart from the popular but scandal-scarred president he has worked alongside in the White House. The challenge was underscored hours earlier, with the disclosure that a new grand jury has been impaneled to hear evidence in the Monica S. Lewinsky scandal.

“I stand here tonight as my own man, and I want you to know me for who I truly am,” Gore said. “I want you to know this: I’ve taken on the powerful forces. And as president, I’ll stand up to them and I’ll stand up for you.” In a 51-minute address that was alternately lyrical, blunt-spoken and occasionally self-deprecating, Gore addressed head-on his image as a wonkish, sometimes pedantic figure.

“I know my own imperfections,” he said. “For example, I know that sometimes people say I’m too serious, that I talk too much substance and policy. Maybe I’ve done that tonight.”

“Nooooooo!” roared the crowd, which coursed with an electricity that surged through the jam-packed convention hall.

“But the presidency is more than a popularity contest,” Gore said in a clear reference to Republican rival George W. Bush who, polls show, is seen as more likable.

“It’s a day-by-day fight for people,” Gore went on. “Sometimes you have to choose to do what’s difficult or unpopular. Sometimes, you have to be willing to spend your popularity in order to pick the hard right over the easy wrong. . . . If you entrust me with the presidency, I know I won’t always be the most exciting politician. But I pledge to you tonight: I will work for you every day and I will never let you down.”

The speech, delivered in a cadence that was more conversational than oratorical, was undeniably the most important of Gore’s 24-year political career. In just under one hour’s time, he sought to shake up the presidential race and shed image problems that have caused him to persistently lag Bush in the polls.

Feared Violence Never Became Reality

Gore’s speech also marked the conclusion of a four-day political fest that succeeded for Los Angeles largely because of something that didn’t happen: despite occasional skirmishes, police and protests mostly avoided the violent confrontations some feared.

Left uncertain, however, was how unified Democrats emerged from Staples Center, where the cleanup began not long after the last red, white and blue balloons cascaded onto the gray carpeting.

Liberals have grumbled the party is too centrist, a complaint exacerbated by Gore’s selection of moderate Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut as his running mate. At the same time, some centrist and conservative Democrats complained that many of the speakers featured at the convention were too liberal.

It was left to Gore, delivering a speech he wrote almost entirely himself on his ever-present laptop, to bridge the divide, as well as reach out to the independent and swing voters he needs to win in November.

He was introduced by his wife, Tipper, as part of the campaign’s effort to humanize a candidate who has turned words like “stiff” and “wooden” into cliches.

“I want you to know that as a husband, father and grandfather, Al has always been there for our family and he will always be there for your family,” Mrs. Gore said. Then the lights dimmed and delegates were shown a video-and-slide show that featured pictures of the Gores on prom night, their wedding day and other intimate glimpses of their family life.

As the lights came up and an orchestral fanfare swelled, the vice president bolted into the convention hall, entering from the rear near the Tennessee delegation. The crowd erupted and a sea of blue-and-white “Gore” pennants billowed across the floor. He saw Tipper off the stage with a passionate kiss.

Gore then opened his speech with a nod to President Clinton, saying, “millions of American will live better lives for a long time to come” thanks to his administration. But that was Gore’s only specific mention of the man who positioned him for the Democratic nomination by making him his running mate in 1992.

He quickly listed the economy’s successes over the last eight years. “But now we turn the page and write a new chapter,” Gore said, signaling his point of departure from Clinton.

“This election is not an award for past performance. I’m not asking you to vote for me on the basis of the economy we have. Tonight, I ask for your support on the basis of the better, fairer, more prosperous America we can build together.”

Gore offered a brief autobiography, discussing family and faith and the disillusionment he felt with the family business--politics--as a result of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal. The son of a U.S. senator from Tennessee, Gore said he spurned politics and pursued a career in journalism until the birth of his oldest daughter caused him to look at life “through a fresh set of eyes.”

“I decided that I could not turn away from service at home any more than I could have turned away from service in Vietnam,” said Gore, who served there as an Army journalist for six months.

He recounted his career in public life: eight years as a congressman, eight years as a U.S. senator and eight more as vice president. “For almost 25 years now, I’ve been fighting for people,” Gore said. “And for all that time I’ve been listening to people, holding open meetings in the places where they live and work.

“I’ve learned a lot,” he said, then vowed as president to maintain a similarly accessible style. “I’m going to go out to you, the people, because I want to stay in touch with your hopes. With the quiet, everyday heroism of hard-working Americans.”

It was for them, Gore said, “in the name of all the working families who are the strength and soul of America,” that he accepted the Democratic presidential nomination. His final words were drowned out by thunderous shouts.

When the crowd settled, Gore swung into a detailed discussion of issues, a level of specificity aimed at drawing a contrast with Bush’s more broadly enunciated agenda. “I believe people deserve to know specifically what a candidate proposes to do,” Gore needled, although he never mentioned Bush by name. “I intend to tell you tonight. You ought to be able to know and then judge for yourself.”

He drew an explosive ovation when he promised that campaign finance reform legislation would be “the very first bill that Joe Lieberman and I send to Congress.”

Lieberman, seated in a VIP section just above the floor, rose and raised his fist in the air.

Gore made his vow even as his party devoted much of convention week to courting corporate interests responsible for pumping millions of dollars into his campaign and the treasuries of Democratic candidates and committees.

At the least, however, the spotlight Gore trained on the issue may help deflect questions about his own role in the Democrats’ controversial fund-raising practices during the 1996 campaign.

Elsewhere in the speech, Gore promised to fight for universal health care coverage, starting with a program to cover all children by the year 2004; to double the federal investment in medical research; to bring about “higher standards and greater accountability” for teachers and to help make college more affordable for middle-class families. He also offered a new goal: to cut the crime rate “year after year--every single year throughout this decade.”

Bush Tax-Cut Plan Gets Harshest Jabs

Gore was relatively sparing in his attacks on Bush. He criticized the Texas governor’s proposal to partially privatize Social Security, arguing it would undermine the program’s long-term viability.

But he saved his most pointed jabs for Bush’s tax-cut proposal. “Let me say it plainly: I will not go along with a huge tax cut for the wealthy at the expense of everyone else and wreck our good economy in the process,” Gore said.

Bush has proposed a $1.3-trillion cut over 10 years; Gore favors a $500-billion reduction and asserted the Bush plan tilts unfairly to the wealthy.

In the same populist vein, the vice president also vowed to fight tobacco companies to restrict the marketing of cigarettes to children; to fight “the big drug companies” to create a prescription drug benefit under Medicare; to fight for a patients’ bill of rights and to take on “the big polluters.”

He pledged a higher minimum wage, expanded child care, after-school programs and family and medical leave. He declared he would defend affirmative action, pass national hate-crimes legislation and drew still another roar by promising “to defend a woman’s right to choose.”

Taking on Hollywood in its own backyard, Gore also sided with Lieberman’s crusade against excessive sex and violence in movies, music and other entertainment. “I believe we must challenge a culture with too much meanness and not enough meaning,” he said.

The heavy focus on detail reflected not just his penchant for policy but also a near-religious faith among Gore and his advisors that the vice president’s stand on issues will ultimately be central to him winning the White House. They cite polls that consistently show a majority of voters are more in line with Gore than Bush on major issues.

But the Bush camp signaled it won’t shy from such comparisons. On Thursday, a spokeswoman announced Bush’s willingness to debate Gore three times in the fall, squelching speculation he might seek a less rigorous schedule.

For good measure, Bush also proposed two vice presidential debates for “a modern-day record of five debates this fall,” said spokeswoman Karen Hughes.

After Gore’s speech, Hughes issued a statement saying the vice president’s speech amounted to “more of the same old language of class warfare, partisanship and division.”

“Despite his promises,” Hughes said, “he offered few specific policy details and instead went through a laundry list that had more cliches than conviction. Tonight’s speech underscores the need for Americans to elect a president who is a strong leader with a vision to unite our nation and work with Republicans and Democrats for the best interests of working families.”

More neutral observers gave Gore relatively high marks.

“It was at least a double,” said Charles Cook, an independent Washington campaign analyst. “With every big moment, he’s really come through. The question is, is it good enough?”

Ed Sarpolus, an independent pollster in the battleground state of Michigan, suggested it was. “This was his breakaway from Bill Clinton,” Sarpolus said. “He said that, not only did we lead in the last 7 1/2 years, but there are places that I want to take you that we haven’t even thought of yet. We have too many places to go and we’re not finished.”

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Times political writer Cathleen Decker and staff writers Glenn F. Bunting, Richard T. Cooper, Michael Finnegan, Faye Fiore, Megan Garvey and T. Christian Miller contributed to this story.

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