Mayor gives nod to Gore's candidacy for president

By Jill Zuckman, and Anthony Flint Globe Staff, May 18, 1999

Mayor Thomas M. Menino endorsed Al Gore for president in 2000 last night at a $1,000-a-head fund-raising dinner for Gore's presidential campaign.

"I'll be out there during the next year or so to make sure Vice President Al Gore becomes President Al Gore," Menino said at the Park Plaza Hotel dinner attended by 400.

The mayor said Gore is a candidate who cares about people. "Running for president is not about charisma," said Menino. "It's not about who has the best jokes. It's about keeping America moving forward."

Gore thanked Menino, saying that he had not expected the formal show of support and, reinforcing Menino's beliefs that Gore has a special connection with Boston, Gore noted that he and his wife, Tipper, became engaged on the banks of the Charles River. "We have always been in love with this city," he said.

Earlier yesterday, Menino attended a town meeting at Charlestown High School where Gore promoted his seven-point education overhaul initiative. Menino had indicated after the meeting that he would endorse Gore rather than former US senator Bill Bradley.

In February, Menino was so upset by a scathing administration report on racial problems in Boston's housing projects -- released the same week that Boston lost out on hosting the Democratic national convention -- that his advisers hinted that Gore might not get Menino's full support.

But after yesterday's town meeting, Menino said, "Al Gore and I never had any big problems. Some people like to stir up the pot. But I make my own decisions."

After the report was released, Menino had reserved most of his anger for Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo, who held a news conference in Washington criticizing the city's handling of racial tensions in public housing. But his political advisers said he was holding Gore accountable as well.

That report has since been amended with another federal report, released Saturday, that makes recommendations regarding the city's public housing but cites significant improvements since 1996.

"Al Gore, to me, is the type of voice we need in Washington," Menino said. "He believes in the same issues I believe in -- education, technology, family."

At Charlestown High School, Gore returned the favor, saying, "We could use more mayors like Tom Menino."

Gore, appearing with his US Senator John F. Kerry, and state Senate president Thomas F. Birmingham, a Chelsea Democrat, along with dozens of students and teachers, said Menino and Chicago's Richard Daley were "leading the charge" of big-city mayors taking on school overhaul.