Bradley To Give Gore A Hand

Al Gore will be getting some help on the campaign trail from his former rival for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Gore and former Sen. Bill Bradley announced Friday they will appear together next Thursday at a campaign rally in Green Bay, Wis.

In a written statment, the Gore campaign and Bradley's office said Bradley will re-emphasize his support for the vice president and work to help Democrats regain control of Congress.

Details of the Wisconsin event were still being worked out, but officials said it could be the first of several joint appearances for Gore and Bradley before the election in November.

Gore defeated Bradley in a bitter primary battle, and while Bradley in the past has said he supports the vice president, he has done little to help his campaign efforts. Bradley left the race in March without having won a single state. He has said repeatedly that he would not release his primary delegates until the Democratic Party convention.

The vice president is wrapping up the fourth and final week of his "prosperity and progress tour" where he's sought to claim credit for the nation's robust economy while also seeking to reshape the campaign debate into a discussion of how to spend the projected budget surplus.

Gore aides say they plan to focus next week on the issue of welfare reform and how to get those on public assistance back into the work force.

Gore is set to appear in Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland and Michigan, as well as Wisconsin, all states considered battlegrounds in the fall.