ONTCLAIR, N.J. - Three months after dropping out of the presidential race and out of sight, Bill Bradley quietly cast his vote yesterday for former foe Al Gore and said he will resume a public role campaigning for Democrats this year.
The former senator said he is negotiating with Gore officials about his role at the Democratic National Convention in August but has not decided what instructions to give his 412 delegates.
''We're in the midst of very productive discussions with the Gore campaign, so I'll leave it at that,'' Bradley said in a brief interview after voting in the New Jersey primary in his hometown.
He said he will actively campaign for Democrats this year, including Gore.
To date, Bradley has resisted the Gore camp's eagerness to schedule a joint appearance of the former rivals. Bradley aides said such a campaign event is in the works.
Bradley did not win a single state in his challenge to Gore.
He dropped out of the race March 9, three months before New Jersey's primary. Yesterday's ballot offered Democratic voters only one alternative to Gore: Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr., who has run for the Democratic nomination in every presidential election since 1976.
When Bradley dropped out of the race, he said he would support Gore's bid for the White House despite believing Gore ran a campaign of ''distortions and negativity.''
Asked that day whether that meant he was ''endorsing'' Gore, Bradley said, ''It's your call.'' Bradley's adviser Anita Dunn said the distinction was semantic, not political, because Bradley believes ''you support people and you endorse checks.''
