Hey, We're Campaigning, Too

With all the sound and fury out of South Carolina, don't forget that two Democrats are also on the campaign trail competing to be their party's pick for president.

The next time that Al Gore and Bill Bradley face Democratic primary voters again is March 7, the Super Tuesday of more than a dozen state primaries. That means the vice president and the former senator have a lot more time to cover a lot more ground than their Republican rivals for the White House. And on Thursday, that ground for the two Democrats covered New Orleans and Providence, RI.

Gore wooed Big Labor in the Big Easy. The vice president met with AFL-CIO leaders for the first time since they endorsed him last fall. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney has promised a no-holds-barred campaign by organized labor on behalf of Gore this year.

The vice president and labor remain at odds over China. Gore told the labor leaders in Thursday's closed-door meeting that he will continue to support the Clinton Administration's push permanently grant China normal trade status this year. The AFL-CIO opposes that initiative because of China's poor worker-rights record.

But Sweeney said Gore stressed his sympathy with labor's position that future trade agreements should include worker protections.

"The vice president has committed himself to being stronger on core labor standards in trade agreements when he is president," Sweeney said.

And United Steel Workers of America president George Becker said although unions will work hard to fight the China initiative as it stands, "We're going to give the Gore administration an opportunity to deal with it."

Gore's stand on protecting union recruitment efforts was more to labor's liking. Sweeney said the vice president "committed himself to support changes in the laws, if necessary, regarding the right of workers to organize,"

The AFL-CIO has complained that it is too easy for companies to use harassment and intimidation tactics to thwart workers who are trying to join unions.

Gore got a generally warm reception in New Orleans, but two major unions skipped the meeting. The Teamsters and the United Auto Workers said they had other commitments. Unlike the AFL-CIO, neither of those unions has committed to a candidate yet with an endorsement.

In fact, the Teamsters hosted Gore's rival Bill Bradley at a meeting earlier this week in Atlantic City, N.J.

The Teamsters director of government affairs, Mike Mathis, said the union is trying to plan a private meeting with Gore soon.

"We're listening carefully for the vice president to solidify his positions," Mathis said.

As for Bill Bradley, the one-time NBA star found himself back on the basketball court Thursday, using the sport as a campaign metaphor.

Bradley stumped in four Northeastern states, including at Hope High School in Providence, R.I. He talked about the campaign, about his plans, and about courage. And he agreed to shoot some hops.

The former New York Knicks star changed into warm-up pants and a Hope High School T-shirt, but warned the exhibition would only "demonstrate how old I am."

A tad rusty, Bradley nevertheless was the first to hit a free-throw in a pressure-filled exercise in which the shooter was surrounded by other players screaming and waving their arms.

He urged his audience to show perseverance, discipline and resiliency "when you encounter those moments in life that are tough."

That way, Bradley said, they won't break "like a hammer hitting a clay pot" but will grow stronger.

He said he had shown the courage to stand by his campaign's central conviction, that these good economic times should be used to make wide-ranging improvements.

"We should ensure that everybody in America has access to quality health insurance, that every school that gets federal dollars has to have a qualified teacher in every classroom, that we reduce child poverty...and that we have fundamental common-sense gun control in this country," Bradley said, interrupted by applause at each line.

And in Dorchester, Mass., the former senator listened intently as parents and community leaders described the sad history but upbeat hopes of a neighborhood that has grappled with gun violence.

Said Bradley, "I know this problem requires national attention and neighborhood wisdom."

"Thirteen kids are killed each day in America with a gun," he said. "If that is not a crisis, I don't know what is."