OUSTON - Vice President Al Gore, wooing a constituency and mocking a slogan of Governor George W. Bush of Texas, told Hispanics yesterday that Americans shouldn't have to settle for ''crumbs of compassion.''
Gore seemed to have made a statement transcending Spanish language and Latin culture by coming to the annual meeting of the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Hispanic advocacy group.
The vacationing Bush did not, upsetting some activists who warned that he should not take the Hispanic vote - usually Democratic - for granted. Bush drew strong support from Texas Hispanics in his reelection as governor, getting about half of their vote.
''I am not satisfied when even one Latino is left out of our prosperity,'' Gore declared in a speech that was warmly applauded by many in the crowd of 2,300.
Gore did not mention Bush by name, but underscored some of the social problems in Texas, and he took a glancing swipe at the Republican presidential candidate's description of his beliefs as ''compassionate conservatism.''
''I want to do things the right way,'' he said, ''not letting people fend for themselves or hope for crumbs of compassion.''
That was in English, but Gore sprinkled phrases and sentences in Spanish throughout his address.
''I'm certainly not satisfied when over 10 percent of all uninsured children in America live in the state of Texas,'' he said, then used a phrase that became a refrain: ''Nuestras familias merecen lo mejor,'' or our families deserve the best.
Gore said the GOP tax-cut plan would endanger Medicare, upon which elderly and disabled Hispanics are disproportionately reliant.
The speech was paid for with public money.
