LOS ANGELES -- In a city where the persistent smog makes downtown skyscrapers indistinct from half a mile away even on the sunniest days, the chairman of the Republican National Committee this week brandished a copy of Al Gore's ''Earth in the Balance'' as evidence that the vice president should be denied promotion. Jim Nicholson says the book portrays America as ''a dysfunctional society.''
This is astonishing. The environment was Gore's passion throughout his congressional career; he has been an effective leader on land use, solid waste, air quality, and the long-term dangers of global warming. Yet the Republican ticket, composed of two men with impeccable oil-patch credentials, thinks it can turn the environment to its advantage.
Tonight Gore will speak to the nation. Many have suggested that he urgently needs to reinvent himself. But he would be better advised to reinforce himself.
Gore has much to talk about - accomplishments that are distinct from those of President Clinton and that should build a solid base for a presidential candidate. But he has not locked them in.
Gore was far ahead of his peers in recognizing the potential impact of the Internet and other technological advances, but critics have mocked him for taking too much credit, and he changed the subject.
Gore has a global perspective and a depth of foreign policy experience that George W. Bush cannot approach, yet Gore has not convinced the nation.
It was Clinton who said the era of big government is over, but Gore did much of the detail work necessary to make the bureaucracy leaner, yet he does not claim credit.
Major health care improvements were a centerpiece of Clinton-Gore '92, but were dropped after 1994. A revival of boldness on this front is overdue.
Gore does need to define himself more clearly tonight, but not by robing himself in a new persona dictated by a consultant or embracing issues recommended by a focus group. Reinforcement, not reinvention.
