Gore promised that a ban on the police practice of racial profiling will, if he is elected president, "be the first civil rights act of the 21st century."

The Democratic presidential candidate made the pledge in response to a question from a black student at the University of Michigan during a taping of the hip cable channel's "Choose or Lose" program.

The student asked why the Clinton-Gore administration hasn't issued an executive order banning racial profiling, and described his own experience being pulled over while driving with four black friends and "surrounded by six police cars."

The MTV program was to be broadcast Tuesday evening to an estimated audience of 1 million.

With a new poll out this week indicating that less than half of the under-25 crowd will definitely vote in the November contest between Gore and Republican George W. Bush, Gore tried to personalize the election for MTV's young viewers as he appealed to them to "fight through" any disillusionment.

"The Supreme Court that is picked by the next president -- three maybe even four justices -- will interpret the Constitution for the next 30 or 40 years, until you're MY age," Gore said.

"And so, you have a lot riding on whether or not civil rights, equal rights, women's rights are protected in the philosophical choices made by the next president."

Also Tuesday, Gore released the latest in a string of positive ads. It opens with highlights from his biography: Vietnam veteran, father of four, married for 30 years. It then ticks off a list of his promises, among them: a tax deduction for college tuition, continuing welfare reform and a crime victims' "bill of rights."

"Al Gore: He'll put his values to work for us," the announcer says.

En route to Michigan from Florida, Gore appeared flummoxed when a reporter asked if he was prepared to answer, "Boxers or briefs?"

"Oh, God. I'd better ... work on that one," he moaned.

Clinton's famous indulgence in 1994 of an MTV audience question about his preference in underwear ("usually briefs") may now be passe to the Gore campaign, but the long-deposed Newt Gingrich remains fair game.

As Gore ratchets up his rhetoric on Medicare this week, the vice president is trying to resurrect the bogeyman he and Clinton used with great success in 1996 to beat back then-GOP nominee Bob Dole.

Bush supported the "the Newt Gingrich plan that former Speaker Gingrich said would cause Medicare to wither on the vine," Gore charged Tuesday. "I fought against that plan even when Newt Gingrich shut the government down twice."

Gore began the pitch Monday in a round of TV network and newspaper interviews. He compared Bush's idea of Medicare reform to the former House speaker's 1995 balanced budget proposal, which would have cut the growth of Medicare spending by $270 billion over seven years. In this campaign, Bush is proposing broad tax cuts, which Gore maintains will drain the surplus Medicare currently enjoys.

The Gore campaign pointed reporters to a 1995 interview that Bush, the Texas governor, gave an Austin TV station, in which he endorsed the congressional Republicans' budget and asserted "elderly people will not suffer as a result of this plan."

Gore, said Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer, now is "trying to turn voters against Governor Bush by scaring seniors."

Fleischer noted that the Clinton-Gore administration in 1997 signed into law Gingrich's scaled-down proposal to cut $225 billion from Medicare growth over seven years.

MTV, best known for its music videos, says its "Choose or Lose" voter mobilization helped spark in 1992 the highest voter turnout among 18-24 year olds since 1972.

Other off-the-beaten-path venues Gore has used in recent days include "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "Late Night with David Letterman" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

MTV representatives said Bush has been invited to make a similar appearance but has not yet accepted.