EW ORLEANS - On the stump in recent days, Al Gore has reveled in talking about his 30-year marriage, once after fielding a question about President Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky. Yesterday, however, he denied he was keeping his distance from the president in the campaign's waning days, saying simply, ''I'm running in my own right.''
The vice president made the declaration in the aftermath of news reports about the gulf that some say exists between him and the president.
One report said that Gore hadn't set foot in the White House since May, until he joined Clinton at emergency meetings last week about the Middle East crisis.
Another story said Democrats are increasingly bothered that Gore hasn't tapped Clinton, either as an adviser or campaigner, as he and Republican George W. Bush run neck-and-neck toward Election Day.
The reports say some people have even suggested Gore call Clinton to ask his advice and urge a wider presidential role.
Yesterday, as he flew aboard Air Force II from New York to Missouri for the funeral of Governor Mel Carnahan, Gore told reporters he hadn't read the stories or received that advice.
Asked why Clinton hadn't been campaigning for him, the vice president said, ''He has been, but, look, this is a campaign that I am running on my own, and as I've said on previous occasions, I am who I am. I'm running in my own right, with a vision of the future of the country.''
Gore also said Clinton had refrained because Congress remained in session and the Middle East was in turmoil.
As if to underscore his statements, Gore and his wife, Tipper, met with the president and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton after both couples arrived in Columbia, Mo., yesterday.
All four hopped into the same limousine for the ride to Jefferson City for Carnahan's funeral, which one aide said was unusual.
The Democratic governor died Monday in a plane crash.
The funeral and its related travel consumed a large portion of Gore's campaign day. He started with an appearance on NBC's ''Today'' show before flying west.
After the service for Carnahan, he flew to New Orleans for two Democratic National Committee fund-raisers and a speech to supporters.
The vice president and his aides criticized Bush's promise to senior citizens that he would preserve a projected $2.4 trillion surplus in the Social Security trust fund for their benefit checks, while acknowledging in the last presidential debate that he would use $1 trillion of that same surplus to cover the cost of establishing private Social Security accounts for younger workers.
''This is not a small detail,'' Gore said. ''This is an amount of money that could make the difference between prosperity and recession. This is the difference between surpluses and deficits. This is potentially the difference between prosperity for all, or a return to the deficits and repeat recessions of the 1980s.''
