Gore, Bradley forces gird for straw poll

By Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff, May 15, 1999

With Al Gore's presidential quest off to a languid start, a straw poll among delegates to the state Democratic Party convention in Springfield today could raise more concern in his campaign if the vice president does not trounce former Senator Bill Bradley.

Party officials in both camps deny the candidates have put any significant effort into winning votes, but both sides lobbied delegates this week, party sources said.

Senator Stephen F. Lynch of South Boston, for one, has coordinated a statewide effort to identify Gore supporters and urge them to attend the convention, according to former Senator Warren Tolman, who co-drafted the "action agenda" to be discussed today. A top elected state official, who asked not to be named, said that Bradley's supporters have been at work as well.

The straw poll, the first of its kind in the 2000 presidential race, will be held during the first three hours of the convention, which kicks off at 10 a.m. The stakes are amorphous, at best, 18 months before the election at an off-year state convention where attendance is expected to be low and composed primarily of activists.

But in a contest where Bradley is gaining ground on a vice president who appears to be treading water, a showing of 30 to 40 percent for the former New Jersey senator could worry the captains of Gore's formidable campaign machine.

"The reality is that they've been running for president for three years, and we've been running for president for three days," said Michael Goldman, a political consultant and Bradley supporter.

Goldman said Bradley will be pleased with 5 percent of the vote, but observers speculated that the camp is hoping to gain 30 to 35 percent.

Representative Paul E. Caron, a Springfield Democrat and Bradley supporter who made the state committee motion to conduct the straw poll, has been under pressure for weeks from top Massachusetts and national party officials who did not want an internecine fight this early in the campaign.

"I think campaigns have gotten away from dealing with one-on-one contacts with delegates, the foot soldiers of the party," Caron said in explaining his support for the straw poll.

Springfield Mayor Michael Albano, a Gore supporter who publicly endorsed the vice president yesterday with 19 other Massachusetts mayors, said he had been asked by state and national Democratic officials to urge that the poll be canceled in the interests of conserving party resources.

Steve Grossman, the former Democratic National Committee chairman, echoed that rationale. "I think they consume a vast amount of time and resources, financial and otherwise," he said.

Setting an "action agenda" is the ostensible reason why more than 3,000 delegates have been summoned to Springfield, but fewer than 2,000 may attend. Tolman, who co-authored the agenda with Senator Linda Melconian of Springfield, said the package sets goals for such issues as education, economic equality, health care, economic security, and tolerance.

Vermont Governor Howard Dean will deliver the keynote speech. Senator Edward M. Kennedy also will address the convention.