Bradley Goes For Gore

No longer on the ballot himself, former presidential candidate Bill Bradley cast his vote for Al Gore in Tuesday's New Jersey primary and disputed Republican talk that he had failed to endorse the vice president.

"I said I give him my full support, and that's what I will do," Bradley said in a brief interview outside his polling place.

The reference was to his announcement March 9 that he was dropping out of the race and would support Gore's bid for the White House. Asked that day whether that meant he was "endorsing" Gore, Bradley said, "It's your call."

He said Tuesday he will campaign for Democratic candidates, including Gore, in the fall.

Bradley has dropped out of public sight since leaving the race, making no further comment on the race.

The Republican National Committee has tried to take advantage of Bradley's silence, keeping a running count of the number of days "since Bill Bradley refused to endorse Gore, March 9th."

Asked whether he believes there is a need for another statement of his support for Gore, the former three-term senator said, "I don't think so."

Bradley said he has spent the past two months "traveling, talking to people, writing, thinking things through." He is also writing a book.

Though Bradley failed to beat Gore in any state, he did win 412 delegates to the Democratic National Convention. He has not released them to support Gore and said he still is considering what to ask them to do at the convention in August.

"We still have about three months," he said.

As for his own role at the convention, Bradley said, "We're in the midst of very productive discussions with the Gore campaign, so I'll leave it at that."

Bradley recently sent letters to longtime supporters asking them for a new infusion of money for his political action committee, Time Future Inc. Bradley formed the PAC after leaving the Senate in 1997 and used it in subsequent elections to support Democratic congressional candidates around the country.