ETROIT - With the Middle East crisis encroaching on the presidential campaign, Al Gore has assumed the tactics more of a negotiatorthan a candidate: tread carefully, say little, and don't take the bait of your opponents.
The vice president has kept his public comments about the violence in the West Bank and the bombing of a US Navy ship to a minimum. He begins speeches with a prayer for the dead sailors, and makes no comments about who is more to blame for the fighting between Israelis and Palestinians.
Gore, like his rival, Governor George W. Bush of Texas, has promised to maintain strong ties to Israel. But the vice president took pains yesterday to acknowledge the suffering of Palestinians in the current unrest - an inclusion that means a lot to the 300,000 Arab-Americans in the crucial battleground state of Michigan.
''As we grieve for those who were affected by the violence there, we think not only of the Americans, we think also of the Palestinians and Israelis and the suffering the families on both sides have felt,'' Gore told a crowd of several thousand supporters. ''The scenes have been heart-rending, and it is time for us to lift them up in prayers as well.''
The vice president specifically referred to the 12-year-old Palestinian boy, Mohammed Durah, whose killing, caught on camera and shown around the world, shocked and angered the Palestinian people.
Gore has not publicly commented on Bush's harsh criticism Friday of the Clinton administration's energy policy. In his Michigan address, Bush berated Gore for recommending the release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help hold down home heating-oil prices this winter.
Meanwhile, Republican vice presidential nominee Dick Cheney used the occasion of the Mideast crisis to underscore the importance of a strong military. Bush and Cheney have accused the Clinton White House of allowing US military preparedness to deteriorate.
The remarks have frustrated the Gore campaign, which sees its candidate as far more experienced and able in the area of foreign affairs. Still, Gore has remained silent on the matter.
And while Gore's spokesman, Chris Lehane, maligned Bush for ''exploiting'' the crisis for political points, Lehane would not criticize Bush's experience, or address any specifics of Middle East events.
''You've seen the difference between the two campaigns' approach: We're being very careful not to inject politics into it,'' Lehane said, responding to repeated questioning by reporters. But the Bush campaign is ''trying to exploit a remote situation for political purposes.''
Further, Lehane said, ''the governor got some of his facts wrong'' when he suggested the Mideast crisis was connected to the Clinton-Gore administration approach to oil and energy. Oil prices had stabilized before the recent troubles, Lehane said. ''It's pretty obvious, it's not a function of energy policy.''
Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer said Lehane's comments were a result of the ''struggling'' Gore campaign. Though polls continue to show the race is statistically close, the numbers appeared to be moving in Bush's favor over the past few days. The two candidates are neck-and-neck in the states that may well decide the election: Florida, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.
''The crisis in the Middle East should not prevent our nation from discussing the administration's failure to have an energy policy,'' Fleischer said.
''Governor Bush will continue to credit the administration in its efforts to stop the violence in the Middle East, but he will not hesitate to criticize the administration's failed energy policies.''
Gore kept his campaign day short but rowdy yesterday, telling boisterous supporters that it was Bush who was guilty of ''fuzzy math'' - the phrase Bush used against Gore in their first debate.
Bush has insisted that the number of Texans without health insurance has gone down, while the number of Americans overall without health insurance has gone up. ''What the figures seem to show is exactly the reverse,'' Gore said yesterday, citing a recent study on the topic.
''Now what is the phrase that describes that kind of calculation?'' Gore said, cupping a hand dramatically to his ear.
''Fuzzy math!'' the crowd shouted.
Gore nodded, saying: ''Fuzzy math. Fuzzy math.''
Gore was to spend much of the weekend in Washington and St. Louis, preparing for Tuesday's debate. Bush spent yesterday at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, and planned to return to Austin to prepare for the debate, which will have the format of a town hall meeting.
Material from Reuters was included in this report.
