Gore, vowing new approach, makes 1st campaign trip to N.H.

By Jill Zuckman, Globe Staff, March 16, 1999

MANCHESTER, N. H. -- Apparently seeking to set himself apart from his boss, Vice President Al Gore said yesterday that he offers the country new answers and new approaches for the next century.

In a presidential campaign trip that will take in New Hampshire, Iowa and Missouri, Gore also received an endorsement from the House minority leader, Richard A. Gephardt, the St. Louis Democrat and a former competitor.

Gore was greeted by a raucous crowd of several hundred people at the Manchester Institute of Arts and Sciences. Banners proclaimed "New Hampshire Welcomes Our Next President."

Throughout the day, Gore emphasized that he had the answers for the coming century, the overarching theme of his 2000 campaign. Even his campaign posters had a space-odyssey look, with an arc and a star around his name.

"We face entirely new challenges in the new century, and we need new answers and new approaches and that's what I represent," he said at a news conference.

Gephardt's appearance to endorse Gore was in the works for more than a month.

"He is a wonderful human being and we would all be proud to have him as president of the United States," Gephardt said.

So far, Gore's only opponent for the Democratic nomination is Bill Bradley, the former New Jersey senator. Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson is also considering entering the race. Gore will formally announce his candidacy later this year.

For Gore, the need to chart his own course is balanced against the leading role he has played in the administration for the last six plus years. Rather than disavow that role, Gore pointed to what the White House may consider its proudest accomplishment: the economy.

"I have been a part of the policies that have led to our prosperity," he said. "I know how to keep our prosperity going."

As an example of some of his new ideas and new approaches for the next century, Gore said, preschool should be universal for all children. New Hampshire does not require communities to offer public kindergarten for its children.

Gore also said he would like to see the ratio of children to teachers reduced to about 20 children per classroom. And he said it is time for women to receive equal pay for equal work.

Gore dismissed suggestions at the news conference that his lagging in the polls behind Governor George W. Bush of Texas posed a serious problem for him.

"This is going to be a campaign about ideas, not polls," Gore said. "This is going to be about a vision of America in the 21st century."

When asked how he would separate himself from President Clinton, Gore again pointed to the future. "I'm excited about offering my own vision for what America should be in the 21st century," he said.

After a year in which Clinton was personally and politically humiliated with a sex scandal and impeachment, Gore was asked if he would like the president to campaign for him here and in Iowa, the premier primary and caucus states in the nominating process.

"I would want his endorsement and I would want his support," Gore said. Indeed, Clinton has spent time in New Hampshire this year holding private meetings with activists in order to persuade them to back Gore's bid for president.

Whether or not it will be possible for Gore to campaign for president without frequently confronting Clinton's problems remains to be seen. The vice president, however, was prepared with an answer: "I think what the president did was terribly wrong and I said so repeatedly. But you know, the American people want to move on."

To the crowd of several hundred supporters, most of whom had stood for two hours,the vice president confided that he would become a grandfather for the first time this summer.

"Our new grandchild will live a life almost entirely in the 21st century," he said, pledging to keep the economy growing.

Gore also said he would seek "revolutionary" change for schools; commit himself to preserving Medicare and Social Security; provide more preventive health care, mental health care and prescription drugs; and help reduce traffic congestion.