Marketing Themselves

After an emotional endorsement from President Clinton, Vice President Al Gore cast himself Tuesday as the inheritor of American confidence in Clinton's economic stewardship and derided George W. Bush's policies as a "post-primary search for rehabilitation."

Bush, the Republican presidential candidate, focused on bipartisanship, campaigning with Democratic lawmakers in Ohio and urging that the nation's economic success be spread beyond the well-to-do.

Gore, in a breakfast address to the Association for a Better New York, was embarking on a series of compare-and-contrast speeches designed to showcase his own agenda as responsible and Bush's as "risky."

"I believe that George W. Bush's entire economic agenda is built on a foundation of irresponsibility and risk," Gore said.

Bush's proposed tax cuts would leave no room in the budget for improving education or shoring up Medicare and Social Security for baby boomers' retirement, Gore said, and could "shatter confidence in our economy, sending a message to the world that under George W. Bush, the era of fiscal responsibility is over."

Asked by a member of his audience about recent volatility in the stock market, the Democratic candidate likened it to basketball players taking foul shots against a backdrop of noisy, distracting fans.

"Over time, if we keep our focus on the fundamentals of a sound economy then the markets are going to be fine and we shouldn't be distracted by the movements of the markets way up, or way down, or sideways," Gore said.

He also invoked the name of former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, who is deeply respected on Wall Street, calling him "my tutor."

Bush was campaigning in Dayton, Ohio to promote his proposal to offer banks tax credits to match up to $300 in savings for low-income Americans to use to finance homes, businesses and education.

"In this campaign, I have shared my goal of continuing our economic success and expanding its blessings to reach all those who live in the shadow or prosperity," Bush said in prepared remarks.

The Texas governor, emphasizing bipartisanship in his campaign event at the Corpus Christi Catholic Church School in Dayton, was bringing with him two former and two current state Democratic lawmakers.