ASHINGTON - The Clinton White House has put Al Gore where he is -- the favorite in the Democratic presidential nomination fight, and in a difficult position with important Democratic constituencies.
In the last several weeks, the administration has dashed off two deals, one to break the impasse over American debts to the United Nations and the other to clear the way for Chinese membership in the World Trade Organization.
Both deals were major achievements for President Clinton. Both present major challenges for Vice President Gore.
The deal permitting the United States to pay its obligations to the international organization came after an administration agreement to restrict US money going to international organizations that promote abortion rights. The agreement angered abortion-rights advocates, who are a key part of the vice president's coalition.
The deal permitting China to enter the WTO came after an administration agreement granting an eventual end to quotas on Chinese textile imports. The pact angered labor leaders who just this September gave their endorsement to Gore over former senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey.
These two issues, longstanding problems the administration swept away with a sense of triumph, nonetheless contributed to the awkward position Gore occupies as he seeks the White House in his own right.
Overcoming the legacy
He is inextricably tied to the president who chose him for the Democratic ticket in 1992, who gave him unprecedented visibility and responsibility for a vice president, and shared credit for the unprecedented prosperity with him. But Clinton also was impeached and is now leaving office with little moral standing. In his last year, the president is seeking to fashion a legacy for himself that, more times than Clinton or Gore would like to admit, makes it ever more difficult for Gore to succeed him.
This is the problem of the vice presidency writ large. It is a priceless advantage - a large staff to provide support, an impressive jet and large traveling entourage to foster the aura of power, a bully pulpit in its own right to provide a showcase for the vice president's interests and achievements.
All that plus immense frustration and less room for maneuverability than political rivals, like Bradley, who aren't encumbered by ties to the president.
''It's awfully tough to be loyal and Number Two when you're simultaneously making the case that you ought to be Number One,'' said Michael D. McCurry, who until last year was Clinton's press secretary. ''Mrs. Clinton's having the same problem. For both of them - the vice president and the first lady - there's no way to quit doing the day job.''
The public senses that - but, unfortunately for Gore, the public also is expressing more sympathy than support.
A recent poll by Western Watts Opinion research for the Hotline, an insiders' political newsletter, asked Americans what they consider Gore's biggest problem. Four Americans in 10 said his largest disadvantage is his association with Clinton - far more than those who identified his personality or his position on issues.
Fighting for independence
This problem is spoken of openly in the inner councils of both the Bradley and Gore campaigns. Bradley strategists regard it as an advantage -- as long as they do not press it too hard. Gore strategists are resigned to it -- but they know they cannot complain about it too much. They know that the president's actions often put their candidate in a bind and arguing that Gore can do little about it only suggests the vice president isn't as influential as he claims in public appearances.
Even so, Gore has struck several notes for independence. Within hours of the agreement on United Nations dues, the vice president's camp expressed strong reservations about it. ''I do not favor bargaining away any critical policy aspect of a woman's right to choose,'' Gore said.
That did not fully placate abortion-rights advocates. Nor are Gore's labor allies mollified, even though Gore's overtures to them on trade pacts in recent years have concentrated on environmental and labor provisions, not on China's entry into the trade group.
Vice presidents have been in this difficult position before, often in times of more political passion than is present right now. During the height of the emotional debate over Vietnam in 1968, for example, Hubert H. Humphrey was squeezed between the president he served and the Democrats who opposed the war.
''Running for president of this country is far more important than being the best vice president I can possibly be,'' Gore said earlier this month. Only once since 1836 has anyone successfully pulled off the trick of doing both. He was George Bush, the elder, in 1988.
