Bradley to Join Gore at Campaign Rally

Former Democratic candidate Bill Bradley will campaign with Vice President Al Gore next week, marking the first joint appearance of the onetime rivals since Bradley dropped out of the presidential race more than four months ago.

Bradley will join Gore at a rally in Green Bay, Wis., on Thursday, aides said. The “unity event” between the two Democrats is remarkably low-key, considering the long wait, highlighting the chasm that lingers between the vice president and his former challenger.

Bradley’s March 9 exit from the campaign marked a bitter end for the former senator from New Jersey, who clearly resented the negative attacks Gore used during the Democratic primaries.

On Friday, a Bradley aide indicated that the former candidate would show enthusiasm during his appearance with Gore. “I think he’s looking forward to it,” the aide said. “He said it sounds like fun.”

Another aide said Bradley would use the word “endorse,” which he avoided in March when he expressed his support for Gore.

In a news conference outside Pittsburgh on Friday, Gore said he was looking forward to campaigning with his former rival.

“I said throughout the primaries--even when it got hot and heavy--that it was an honor to be in the race with Bill Bradley,” Gore said.

At the time Bradley left the race, he gave a passionate elegy to his campaign, saying the cause of fighting for “a new kind of politics” would not end and he hoped Gore would run “a better campaign in the general election.”

Aides are hoping a warm tone between the two men could help patch their differences and signal solid party support for Gore.