UN CITY, Fla. - George W. Bush employed the rhetoric of John F. Kennedy on the campaign trail yesterday, promising to lead ''a medical moon shot'' as president by increasing spending for cancer and disease research by $67 billion this decade.
''Cures and treatments are not just a hope for future generations. They are the hope of men and women and children who live and sometimes suffer today,'' the Republican told an audience of about 750 senior citizens at the Sun City Center retirement community.
Harking back to Kennedy's call to put a man on the moon before the end of the '60s, Bush said: ''Our nation must meet these hopes with new focus and new spending. As president, I will fund and lead a medical moon shot to reach far beyond what seems possible today and discover new cures for age-old afflictions.''
Meanwhile, Vice President Al Gore continued to focus on oil prices during a campaign swing in Western Pennsylvania, urging the release of 30 million to 35 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve just before the Clinton administration announced it would do so.
Oil was also a leading topic at Gore's first full-scale news conference in more than two months.
At a union hall in Vanport, Pa., Gore said the race for the White House is ''a jump ball.'' He also rejected suggestions that he would have the advantage as a debater when he faces Bush next month. ''This ought to be a fresh slate, even-steven going in.''
For Bush, yesterday marked his sixth visit to Florida since receiving the GOP nomination. He told a crowd greeting him at Sarasota International Airport he felt confident he would win the state and its 25 electoral votes even though polls suggest a neck-and-neck race.
Bush came to Florida to begin wrapping up his weeklong focus on how his policies affect middle-class families. The ''Real Plans for Real People'' tour will have covered 6,076 miles and nine states between last Monday and today, when it concludes this morning with a rally at Orlando International Airport.
With a pink breast-cancer awareness pin stuck to his lapel, Bush repeated his vow to more than double funding for the National Institutes of Health and double the budget at the National Cancer Institute.
The NIH is the primary element of the federal government to conduct and support biomedical and behavioral research. In 1998, Congress committed to the goal of doubling its funding from $13.6 billion to $27.3 billion by 2003.
Bush pledged to surpass projected budget growth for the agency. In 2002, he would seek $2.2 billion more than the projected budget growth, and starting the next year, he would seek to surpass the projection by $8.1 billion annually until 2010.
Currently, the Congressional Budget Office projects that with annual increases, the NIH budget will grow to $22.8 billion by 2010. Over that time, NIH spending would total $204.4 billion.
Under Bush's proposal, the NIH budget would reach $30.9 billion by 2010.
Included in that funding is a pledge to increase the annual budget of the National Cancer Institute from $3.3 billion to $5.7 billion.
Gore also has proposed to more than double NIH funding.
In a question-and-answer session, one woman told Bush that all women are not for Gore, even though many polls suggest Gore has been taking a lead since the Democratic National Convention, where Gore gave his wife, Tipper, a long kiss.
''I'm a little shocked that the polls are moving because of `The Kiss' as well,'' Bush said. ''I think what matters more is leadership capability and positions you're running on.''
The Bush campaign renewed its criticism of Gore for withholding details to back up his claim last month that his mother-in-law pays nearly three times as much for the same prescription arthritis drug used by the family dog.
The Globe questioned the validity of the story, and afterward the Gore campaign said it used figures from a congressional study - not the family's medical bills - when the vice president made the claim. The Globe subsequently reported that only a few drugs are prescribed for both humans and animals.
Bush spokeswoman Karen Hughes said: ''The reason this is relevant is because the vice president used his own mother-in-law in an attempt to win votes. He made up facts in an attempt to win votes in Florida. ... And I think the vice president owes you all an answer: Did he make it up completely?''
Gore's veracity also came into question this week when he said that his mother had sung to him ''Look for the Union Label'' as a lullaby. The song was written when Gore was 27.
Asked about that yesterday, Gore laughed and said he was joking.
Material from the Associated Press was included in this report.
