Gore Selects Date to Reveal Running Mate

Vice President Al Gore, nearing a decision on a running mate, will unveil his choice on Aug. 8, days after presidential rival Gov. George W. Bush and the Republicans conclude their national convention in Philadelphia.

Gore, whittling down his short list of potential candidates while he vacations near here with his family, will make the announcement somewhere in Tennessee at a public event whose final details have yet to be worked out.

Campaign spokesman Chris Lehane said Gore’s list is down to “fewer than 10” but that it still is “a diverse list that represents a cross-section of America.”

Lehane said that Gore will not be meeting in person with any of the candidates during his weeklong vacation at a private residence on the adjacent island of Figure Eight.

That statement seemed intended, at least in part, to address the fact that two oft-mentioned potential Gore running mates happen to be vacationing on the same exclusive island. They are Sens. Evan Bayh of Indiana and John Edwards of North Carolina. Edwards owns a home on Figure Eight, and Bayh and his family are there as guests of the Edwards family.

Others who have been frequently mentioned as possible Gore running mates include Sens. Bob Graham of Florida, Tom Harkin of Iowa and former Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell.

Lehane said the Gore campaign intends to continue to dampen speculation on the vice president’s choice of a running mate because Gore wants to avoid the “carnival-like atmosphere” of the days leading up to Bush’s announcement of a running mate last week.

The Bush campaign quickly criticized Gore. “Once again, everything’s a political calculation,” said Karen Hughes, Bush’s communications director. “They’re more concerned about when they make an announcement than who he’ll pick.”

Lehane, in another dig at the Bush camp, said that Gore’s campaign “will not use the vice presidential selection process as a substitute for a genuine campaign message, and the campaign will not be completely unprepared to explain the vice presidential nominee’s record to the American people.”

That second reference was to the attendant questions about the congressional voting record of former Rep. Dick Cheney (R-Wyo.), whom Bush selected as his running mate.

Among the votes Cheney has found himself defending are his backing of abortion restrictions, opposition to gun control and rejection of a resolution calling for South Africa’s then-apartheid regime to free Nelson Mandela.

Lehane pointedly noted Saturday that Gore “will not select someone who believes that Nelson Mandela spent too little time in prison.”

Until Aug. 8, the Gore campaign clearly hopes to keep his choice under wraps--a daunting prospect given the proclivity of politicians and strategists to talk and the media’s voracious appetite for breaking news.

Nevertheless, Lehane said, “the campaign is going to make a concerted effort . . . to not reveal who is on the short list. . . . In fact, only Al Gore and Mr. [Warren] Christopher [the former secretary of State who is directing Gore’s search] now know who is on the short list.”

In addition to finalizing his choice, Gore is spending “a little time,” as he put it upon arrival in North Carolina on Thursday, working on his acceptance speech for the Democratic nominating convention in Los Angeles, which begins Aug. 14.

Earlier Saturday, Gore strolled on the beach after a morning drizzle. He was accompanied by his wife, Tipper, daughter Sarah and brother-in-law and confidant Frank Hunger, a Washington attorney.

The Gores began their family vacation Thursday evening and are expected to stay here until next Thursday. They are staying at the five-bedroom beachfront home of Paul Overton, a well-to-do sporting goods businessman.

On Friday, the family took a late-afternoon cruise on a 38-foot boat owned by the Overtons.