Look Who's Talking

With George W. Bush's high-profile meeting with John McCain still a week away,
Vice President Al Gore has already had a chance to sit down with the in-demand Arizona senator.

Gore, a Democrat, and McCain, a Republican, met Sunday to discuss campaign finance reform, a subject McCain is expected to discuss with Bush, his former GOP rival, as well.

Chris Lehane, a Gore spokesman, said the meeting took place at the vice president's residence in Washington for 15 to 20 minutes and suggested the two might meet again.

McCain, who dropped out of the Republican presidential race after Bush secured enough delegates to clinch his party's nomination, co-authored legislation to reform campaign finance rules that has been stalled in Congress.

Gore has said that the first piece of legislation he would send to Congress if he was elected president would be the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill, which also bears the name of Sen. Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat.

McCain is due to meet May 9 with Bush after weeks of talks about getting the two men together.

Appearing on CBS News' Face The Nation earlier Sunday, McCain said his differences with Bush on campaign finance would not prevent him from endorsing the Texas governor..."I think if I didn't (endorse Bush because of campaign finance reform), I would be litmus testing him. I don't think that's appropriate for me to do."

Lehane gave few details of the Gore-McCain meeting, describing it as "a courtesy call" by McCain to the vice president's home, on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Observatory. The two men gave separate interviews to CNN there.

"They met for 15-20 minutes and discussed campaign finance reform," Lehane told reporters traveling with Gore, who was in Boston for a campaign appearance later Sunday.

Lehane said a follow-up meeting was possible since "we have an open-door policy to people committed to reform."