Gore Unloads On GOP
Al Gore says Republican presidential rivals George W. Bush and John McCain are two peas in a pod and they're both "going over to the dark side."
Declaring in an interview with USA Today that he is not taking his own nomination for granted, the vice president said it has been "an education and illuminating experience" for the country to see Bush and McCain "in their true colors."
"They both have the same right-wing record," Gore said in the interview, appearing in Thursday's editions. "And in terms of their rhetoric, they're both going over to the dark side."
He added: "They both lack the courage to speak out against the flying of the Confederate flag above the statehouse (of South Carolina). They both want to take away a woman's right to choose. They both want to privatize parts of Medicare. They both want to drain money away from public schools. They both are appealing to the extreme right wing."
Gore insisted that he is "not in the least overconfident" about defeating former Sen. Bill Bradley for the Democratic presidential nomination, but directed his fire at his potential Republican opponent, whoever that may be.
"I think they're two peas in the same pod," Gore said, adding that he has no preference about which he would prefer to run against.
"I think both of them are going so far to the right that they're on the warning track heading full speed for the wall," said Gore.
With less than two weeks before the potentially decisive "Super Tuesday" primaries, Gore's tentative itinerary for the coming week looks past the March 7 contests to Arizona and Colorado. And, he has returned to fund-raising to replenish the coffers for what he presumes will be a battle with the Republican nominee.
On Wednesday, Gore went out of his way to visit South Carolina, flying from Florida to North Carolina, then doubling back an hour by car to Fort Mill, S.C., even though that state's primary isn't until March 9 and Bradley is not considered a threat there.
When Bradley stopped in South Carolina earlier this month, he was handed a letter by state Democratic chairman Dick Harpootlian at the airport saying it was time for him to drop out of the race and support Gore.
Bradley, for his part, spent Wednesday telling a crowd of college students in Seattle it would be risky for the Democrats to put up Gore against a Republican reformer like McCain, reports CBS station KIRO-TV. "McCain will beat him like a drum," Bradley said, adding this take on Gore: "I don't think he's a credible reform candidate."