OBBS FERRY, N.Y. - With Al Gore and Bill Bradley getting personal in their attacks against each other, several elected Democratic officials and left-leaning interest groups have turned on Bradley for being negative in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The Gore campaign yesterday released a 60-second radio ad featuring Kristina Kiehl, the cofounder of Voters for Choice, who said she was switching her allegiance from Bradley to Gore.
''Today, I no longer support Bill Bradley because his unfair negative attacks divide us at the very moment we should stand together against the real enemy - the Republican candidates who don't trust women to make responsible reproductive choices,'' Kiehl said in a statement.
And the state Democratic Party chairman in Washington sent Bradley a blistering letter, urging him to stop the negativity.
The backlash has more to do with the fact that Gore is far ahead in the polls, and Democratic brass do not want their leading candidate to enter the general election battered by his primary opponent, analysts and Democratic officials said.
Gore ''is the likely nominee, and many Democrats are concerned about the negativity of the race,'' said Representative Martin Meehan, Democrat of Lowell, Mass.
''It's natural that when a candidate is on the ropes, for him to go negative ... I don't think there's anything wrong with Bill Bradley running an aggressive campaign,'' Meehan added, but ''some Democrats are angry at Bradley.''
Gore has picked up the backing of a major abortion rights organization, as well as a New York environmental organization - even though the former New Jersey senator has ranked higher on the groups' legislative score charts.
Gore snagged the endorsement yesterday of the New York League of Conservation Voters, although the national league, which is not directly affiliated with the New York environmental group, has not endorsed a candidate.
''Both Gore and Bradley would be strong supporters of the environment,'' said Lisa Wade, spokeswoman for the national league.
The Bradley campaign issued a statement yesterday saying, ''When it comes to protecting and fighting for core Democratic principles, Al Gore cannot be trusted.''
The campaign has repeatedly attacked Gore's record on abortion rights, gun control, and the environment - even as it is issuing fliers to voters featuring Bradley's face and the words: ''I won't spend my time attacking my opponent on votes from long ago.''
''Only in Washington is the truth considered negative campaigning,'' said Michael Powell, deputy communications director for the Bradley campaign in New York. ''By any objective standard, Bill Bradley has held his fire for a long time in this campaign.''
The flier is not disingenuous, Powell said, since Bradley is not attacking Gore's votes - only his honesty about his voting record.
Gore, enjoying his lead, has got his attacks on Bradley down to a rhythm: He criticizes Bradley for his health care plan, for lacking leadership qualities, or for being negative. Then he retreats, making magnanimous comments about his Democratic rival, leaving Bradley looking like the lone attacker.
''Bill Bradley does have a good environmental record and I acknowledge that,'' Gore told members of the New York League of Conservation Voters, with the soft mist of the Hudson River rising behind him.
''But I appreciate deeply your willingness to go beyond that and look at leadership.''
