Gore Upbeat Over Progress of ‘Prosperity’ Tour

Al Gore was in a good mood. For the first time in several weeks, he was able to pitch voters on America’s good times without being interrupted by staff shake-ups or aftershocks from the 1996 fund-raising imbroglio.

So when a reporter on Air Force Two last week asked him if he felt his three-week “prosperity and progress” tour was effective, he had a quick, off-the-cuff reply that surprised even his aides.

It’s been so successful, the vice president beamed, that we’re doing it for another week.

“I feel very good about the campaign,” he said, clutching a coffee mug while perched on a seat in the rear section of the plane as he chatted with reporters. “Something is happening out there.”

The aim of the “prosperity and progress” tour was to highlight the nation’s economic growth and its benefits as well as to emphasize that Gore is the best leader to continue the wealth.

“I actually think [the campaign] has turned a corner of sorts,” said Democratic consultant Jim Margolis. “They’ve been much more disciplined about their message and drawing contrasts in stark relief.”

When the tour kicked off last month, the Gore presidential campaign was focused less on prosperity and more on problems. Three days in, controversial campaign chairman Tony Coelho resigned, citing health reasons, forcing Gore to make a midnight call to recruit then-Commerce Secretary Bill Daley. The next day, the news of Daley’s appointment as chairman eclipsed Gore’s announcement of a $500-billion middle-class tax cut proposal.

A week later, word leaked out that Justice Department investigators recommended that Atty. Gen. Janet Reno appoint a special counsel to look into Gore’s role in the 1996 fund-raising excesses, putting a bitter cap on the vice president’s otherwise upbeat visit with Gov. Jesse Ventura in Minnesota.

Gore chose to respond right away, releasing the transcript of his interview with investigators, insisting that “the truth is my friend in this.” But the lingering questions left a stain on the optimistic mood the campaign was trying to put forward.

Even after that rocky start, however, Gore came on strong during the last two weeks as he stumped before cheering audiences across the Midwest, portraying himself as a consumer advocate who knows best how to take on heavyweight industries.

Along the way, he managed to get in some digs at Texas Gov. George W. Bush’s links to powerful corporate interests and question whether the presumptive Republican nominee could keep the nation on its steady course.

“It’s an enormous improvement, compared to how they were doing before,” analyst Charlie Cook said. “Trying to connect himself to the economy is something [Gore] needs to do. He was in a bad situation a month or two ago, and I think things are changing for them.”

Political watchers say the strong economy is one of Gore’s most potent assets. Still, it remains to be seen whether Gore can hitch his candidacy to the issue and convince voters that Bush could put the good times at risk.

“There’s only so far Gore can go with [the argument], ‘Here I am, give me credit for the good times,’ ” said independent analyst Stuart Rothenberg. “The only way to do it is to convince voters that George Bush isn’t what they think he is . . . that George Bush is a dangerous guy.”

To that end, Gore unleashed a litany of Goliath-like industries this week that he said were backing his presidential rival: big oil, big drug companies, big polluters, big insurance companies and big gun makers.

To ensure his point wasn’t lost, Gore spelled it out for those listening: I am for the people. Bush is for the powerful.

Bush aides dismiss Gore’s recent lobs as “old-style attacks and distortions” and said the vice president’s prosperity argument doesn’t fly with voters who give the market, entrepreneurs and the high-tech industry credit for the strong economy.

“It was obvious all along that the American people understood who deserves credit for our nation’s prosperous times,” said Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett. “They don’t believe he invented this prosperity any more than he invented the Internet.”

Gore aides, however, feel confident that the “prosperity and progress” tour has provided a theme to encompass policy proposals about Medicare, Social Security, education and the environment in context with the recent economic boom and the resources now available to deal with those issues.

“There was this sense that there were a lot of pieces, and what you’ve got now is some sort of framework to talk about who this guy is and what he would represent as president,” agreed Margolis. “That’s what’s been missing.”

With the tour officially ending this week, Gore plans on hitting Bush even harder on his links to “entrenched special interests” that have donated to the Texas governor’s campaign.

In a brief phone interview Saturday, the vice president said he will launch a new line of attack alleging that powerful industries have co-opted the Republicans in the “do-nothing-for-people Congress.” These business interests, Gore charged, have held up legislation on the minimum wage, prescription drugs, the patients’ bill of rights and environmental cleanup.

Last week, an upbeat mood dominated Gore’s Nashville headquarters, where dozens of young aides buzzed around a large room ensconced in a sterile office park. Recent polls suggest Bush’s lead might be shrinking.

“There were a couple bumps in the road, but we feel we went over the bumps without losing stride at all,” said Mark D. Fabiani, Gore’s communications director.

“Gore has now staked out his issue territory. We know where we’re going to be in the general election; we know where the other guy is going to be. We think we’re--almost up and down the line--in a better spot than he [Bush] is on these issues.”

And in some ways, if they had to trip briefly in delivering their message, the Gore campaign picked the best possible time.

“The reality of it is that over the [Fourth of July] weekend, people didn’t care about presidential politics,” said Kam Kuwata, a Democratic consultant running Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s reelection campaign. “They were focused in on issues like, ‘Did someone remember to buy the hamburgers for the barbecue?’ Right now people just aren’t paying attention.”

*

Times staff writers Megan Garvey and Bonnie Harris contributed to this report.