Politics

Dubya Lets Fly On Gore

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

March 23, 2000 / 9:28 AM EST / CBS

Responding in kind to Al Gore's assertion that he is not ready for the presidency, George W. Bush said Thursday that Gore is an "obstacle to reform" who is too partisan to be president.

Bush told the Washington Post in Thursday's editions that Gore would fail to fix Social Security or reform the campaign finance system.

Several times during the interview, the Post reported, Bush said he did not believe or trust Gore.

The putative Republican presidential nominee also pledged to continue pushing his tax-cut plans - despite polls showing little interest - and said he would make saving Social Security a focus in fall debates.

"It's based upon realistic numbers and I'm going to campaign hard on it," he said of his tax-cut plan.

Bush also said the vice president has a "major credibility problem" that goes beyond the campaign finance matter, and that he plans to make it a central campaign issue as well.

"I'm going to keep the pressure on," the Texas governor said. "If I'm not, who will?"

He called Social Security a "fundamental issue" and said Gore was wrong to suggest that major changes are not needed to keep the retirement program solvent in the decades ahead.

Bush has not offered a plan for fixing the program and refused to promise to issue one before the November election. More important than specific proposals, he said, is his promise to use his political capital as president to bring Republicans and Democrats together to make changes.

Touting his ability to bring the parties together in Texas, where he is in his second term as governor, Bush said voters want a president who will "put issues ahead of partisanship."

Bush pledged to stand by his biggest proposal, to cut taxes by $483 billion over five years. He acknowledged having "a lot of work to do" yet to sell the package to voters, but predicted the issue would help lead him to victory in November.

Gore criticizes it as "risky tax scheme" that would consume the projected budget surplus.