ASHVILLE - Although Vice President Al Gore is skittish about making public appearances with President Clinton before the election, a top campaign official said yesterday that a recorded message from Clinton would be used in millions of telephone calls to rally black voters across the country in the final days.
According to plans approved at the highest levels of the Gore organization, Clinton's voice will be channeled into targeted households as part of a coordinated telephone campaign that will also feature messages from Gore, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
The tactic of using an audiotape of Clinton to mobilize black voters by phone is believed to have made the difference in a close contest in Mississippi last year when the Democratic candidate for governor, Ronnie Musgrove, was elected by only 8,000 votes.
''There were thousands of calls,'' said Bill Carrick, a political consultant who worked with Musgrove. ''Tons and tons of them. It was real helpful. The African-American turnout in Mississippi was as high as it's ever been. A dramatic improvement.''
Mississippi has the highest proportion of black voters in the country, and the constituency has been solidly Democratic since being enfranchised by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But the black turnout had fallen off in two previous gubernatorial elections, leading to Republican victories.
In his message last fall, Clinton spoke of the importance of the election, singled out Musgrove's promise to work for better schools and economic development ''for all Mississippians,'' and appealed to his listeners to vote.
The recording created a buzz in the black communities, Carrick said. ''They were not fooled'' into thinking they had actually been called by Clinton, he said, ''but they were flattered'' to have received the message.
According to Carrick, Clinton's recorded telephone campaign - a device also employed by the Democratic National Committee in elections in South Carolina and California - relies on technology developed by companies that identify black voters by matching voting rolls and telephone directories.
Because of Clinton's extraordinary popularity among blacks nationwide, his help in encouraging their vote is considered critical during the next two weeks in a number of key states with substantial black populations.
Gore's advisers are reluctant to talk about the sensitive relationship with Clinton. They believe the president's presence in the campaign could alienate other target groups, such as Democrats who were offended by the Monica Lewinsky scandal but are now drifting back to Gore.
But Clinton, an irrepressible politician who is anxious to get involved in the campaign, talks regularly with William M. Daley, the chairman of Gore's campaign who served as Clinton's commerce secretary. Another top Gore adviser, Tad Devine, is said to be dealing daily with Steve Richetti, the deputy chief of staff at the White House, discussing other options to use Clinton in the final push.
Gore's advisers have not ruled out public appearances by Clinton on behalf of the Democratic ticket in such cities as Detroit, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Milwaukee. In each case, the cities have large black populations and are in states that are essential to Gore's strategy to amass a majority in the Electoral College.
