AN JOSE, Calif. - It was officially an open party, but for Bill Bradley, the Democratic presidential candidate, it appeared that the guest of honor had already been chosen.
Vice President Al Gore was clearly the star at the California Democratic Party's state convention yesterday, even before he delivered his shots against Bradley, calling him pessimistic and a quitter.
At what is typically a somewhat rowdy affair, Bradley chose to play the role of distinguished statesman. The former New Jersey senator, who has been delivering blistering attacks on Gore's candidness and commitment on such key issues as abortion rights and gun control, kept his criticism of Gore muted in his address to the convention.
''We have a difference here in boldness,'' Bradley said, saying that his proposals on health care, handgun control, and education were more sweeping, and by extension, more traditionally Democratic, than Gore's.
Bradley, seeming more energized than in past speeches, said the country should seize this period of ''unprecedented prosperity'' to eliminate child poverty, establish comprehensive health care coverage, and improve education.
''We must not settle. Democrats don't settle,'' Bradley told the crowd of thousands, receiving polite applause.
Gore, meanwhile, after stepping up to the podium to the blaring sound of ''Love Train,'' unleashed an assault on Bradley as a man who abandoned the Democrats when the going got tough. Bradley retired from the Senate in 1996.
''Senator Bradley seems to suffer from a kind of Demo-pessimism,'' Gore said. ''Senator Bradley gave up too soon. We stayed and fought.''
After saying, ''I have never attacked Bill Bradley personally,'' a phrase that brought a derisive chuckle from Bradley supporters in the audience, Gore went on to call Bradley a quitter several times. The vice president also took on Bradley's suggestion that Gore is not a ''real Democrat,'' accusing Bradley of being positively Republican in his campaign tactics.
''The real Democrat is not the one who takes his talking points from the Republican National Committee,'' Gore said. ''Real Democrats don't aid and abet Republicans.
''I'll never give up. I'll never give in,'' Gore said as his supporters waved blue-and-white Gore signs. ''I'll never quit and I'll never walk away.''
Gore also spoke several lines of elementary Spanish, finishing with, ''Si, se puede!'' (Yes, it can be done.) Latino supporters flipped signs that said ''Gore 2000'' on one side, and ''Viva Gore'' on the other.
Bradley appealed to Democrats' desire to win in November, suggesting that Gore's record on campaign finance reform - particularly his acceptance of campaign contributions from a Buddhist temple event in California - would make the vice president less electable.
On the Republican saide, the success of Senator John McCain against the well-financed Texas governor, George W. Bush, indicates the mood of the public, Bradley said. McCain ''is moving because he is standing up for reform,'' Bradley said, ''and if we don't stand up for reform, we have a special vulnerability.''
After his speech, Bradley renewed his attack on Gore, citing the administration's appointment of Bradley Smith to the Federal Election Commission. Smith has expressed opposition to overhauling the campaign finance system.
But Bradley's exhortations, however respectfully received by the audience, didn't appear to sway Gore's support among the audience.
Bradley supporters were overwhelmed by legions of Gore loyalists in the crowd of 3,000. Before and after Bradley's speech, a parade of state Democratic leaders rallied the crowd for Gore, including Governor Gray Davis and Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer.
California Democrats are ''a lot more pragmatic now'' than they were 20 years ago, said Bob Mulholland, campaign adviser to the California Democratic Party, and are more likely to be won over by Gore's incremental approach to policy. Bradley would probably have been the choice 20 years ago, he said.
Bradley has trailed by more than 25 points in some opinion polls in the California primary.
But at a rally before the event, Bradley drew on his basketball career as he sought to put a bright face on his poll numbers. ''I remember once we were behind by 19 points with five minutes to go and we won the game,'' Bradley told about 250 supporters, recalling a game he played with the New York Knicks. ''So we have plenty of time here in California.''
