Both campaigns talk West Virginia issues as new Republican 'Nader' ads appear By Eun-Kyung Kim, Associated Press, 10/27/00 CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia industry took center stage in the presidential race today, as Democrat Al Gore and Republican Dick Cheney talked coal and steel to receptive crowds. Meanwhile, a Republican organization began airing TV ads in three key states featuring Green Party candidate Ralph Nader attacking Gore. Gore's supporters fear that the consumer advocate, who is more liberal than either George W. Bush or Gore, could siphon votes from the vice president and tilt key states toward the Texas Republican. The ads will air in Wisconsin, Oregon and Washington, three of the half dozen or so states in which Nader could make a difference. At an appearance in Charleston, W.Va., Gore criticized the Republicans for the ads, saying they were trying "to make you think that up is down, black is white and outside is inside." Gore said his former congressional district includes Appalachia, and said he wanted to "fight for coal miners' health." Gore, along with Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., criticized then-U.S. Rep. Cheney for voting 18 times against measures related to black lung. "I have spent many a Saturday night in a small courthouse filling out forms related to black lung," Gore said. "I have spent many a night talking to the survivors and talking to the coal miners who are suffering from black lung because there were not adequate safety measures ... I've looked into the eyes of those who have been broken down by it, abused by it, who have had their health taken from them by it, and I'm telling you, I will never rest until we have justice for those who have been denied justice, and benefits for those who are eligible for those benefits." Campaigning at a West Virginia steel mill, Cheney told workers that Bush will enforce trade laws to fight dumping of cheaper steel imports. "If our trading partners violate our trade laws, we will respond swiftly and firmly," Cheney said. "There should be no more looking the other way so that politics can triumph over principles." He said Bush will vigorously enforce anti-dumping duties and other laws to combat unfair trade practices, including illegal foreign subsidies of steel companies. Gore was continuing to press his case against Bush's Social Security plan in a new TV ad. The ad features former Social Security commissioner Robert Ball making the case that it's impossible for Bush to allow younger workers to invest some $1 trillion from their Social Security taxes into individual accounts while maintaining benefits for current retirees. In an earlier appearance Thursday, Bush goaded his Democratic rival on character and trust, and said he "is willing to toe the line" for an era of personal responsibility, suggesting Democrats have not. He was hunting for votes in Michigan and South Bend, Ind., stressing the character issue and pledging that if he wins, Washington will no longer be "a place of bitterness and name calling and failed leadership." Michigan and Pennsylvania, where Bush campaigned Thursday, are among the closely contested swing states that could be pivotal in an election the polls rate an even match. Gore was presenting new elements of the economic plan he said would pay off the national debt by 2012 and make the government smaller than in a half century. He proposed a $9 billion expansion of tax credits for research and experimentation by private companies. Bush said Gore would "expand government more than we have seen in 35 years," calling that a threat to prosperity. "Even if we could afford to pay for the vice president's ideas, they would still be the wrong ideas," he said. In Madison, Wis., before a crowd police estimated at more than 30,000, Gore confronted the Nader factor. Nader is drawing only 3 percent to 5 percent in national polls, but those could be swing votes in the half dozen states where his support is concentrated, and at Gore's expense. California, crucial to Gore, is one state where Nader could hurt him should the Republicans succeed in closing in on the vice president, who has watched his lead there shrink. They're trying. Bush will campaign in California on Monday, then in Oregon and Washington state, where the Nader factor could be even more telling. Clinton plans to campaign Nov. 2-3 in California, and in as many as five other states, on a political errand "geared toward helping the vice president and the rest of the Democratic ticket," according to spokesman Jake Siewert. Gore, who had not planned to campaign there this late in the game, was expected to touch down in California next week to appear on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." The Republican Leadership Council, a moderate Washington-based group, plans to spend a modest $100,000 on the Nader ads but hopes to raise more money for the campaign.