Why Can't They Be Friends?

Will the losing presidential candidate throw his enthusiastic support behind his party's nominee? Can the two men put the bitterness of the primary campaign behind them? Just how important is the actual word "endorse" anyway?

If you think this is yet another story about George W. Bush and John McCain, think again. With so much attention on the Republican ranks, a similar rift between this year's presidential rivals in the Democratic Party has gone largely unnoticed.

Bill Bradley has yet to formally and unequivically endorse his former opponent Al Gore. No one from the Bradley camp has crossed over to work for the vice president's campaign. And as for the two candidates, they have not spoken since Bradley dropped out of the race on March 9.

In his concession speech, Bradley said about Gore: "He will be the nominee of the Democratic Party, and I support him in his bid to win the White House." But when a reporter asked him if he was endorsing Gore, Bradley repeated his pledge to support the vice president and would work for him.

Bradley spokesperson Eric Hauser dismisses questions over the senator's word choice as mere semantics.

"That's for others to make a judgement about," he said. "We're not going to parse words."

But Hauser left no doubt that Bradley would, as promised, campaign on behalf of the Democratic ticket.

"We're going to support the vice president," he said, adding that the election is still six months away. "We'll be active. But it's early."

Hauser also confirmed a published report that a public event involving the former rivals is in the works, but said there was no timetable and no announcement expected this week.

The Gore campaign is being more tight-lipped, refusing to comment on a possible meeting. "The campaigns are in consultation about how we can move forward," said Gore spokesperson Chris Lehane.

And a role at the Democratic National Convention? Hauser said that too is under discussion, but nothing specific yet. So far, Bradley has yet to relinquish his nearly 500 delegates for the party's Los Angeles convention in August.

A few weeks after Bradley quit the race, Gore reached out to his rival's supporters on a campaign swing to New Jersey, the state where Bradley was a senator. Gore won pledged support from some top Bradley backers, including campaign chairman Doug Berman. By then, Gore had begun referring to Bradley as "a good man" as opposed "a good man with a bad plan," a term he used earlier in the primary season.

But it may take more than softened phrases to smooth his rival's ruffled feathers. In Bradley's concession speech, he rebuked Gore for the "distortions and negativity" he said Gore used against him. "I hope that he'll run a better campaign in the general election."

Do those words linger in Gore's ears? Does Bradley harbor resentment?

"It's all history now," sai Democratic strategist Bill Carrick. "(It's) a complicated tea leaf reading to suggest there's anything going on here. They'll get the e-word."

Hauser said the race was not personal: "Both of them saw the contest as just that, a contest."

"The main thing is that Senator Bradley, unlike the Republicans, supported Al Gore on the day he got out of the race…the first chance he got," said Gore communications director Kathleen Begala.

Seeking to draw a contrast to the personal attacks that marred the Bush-McCain contest, Begala added "there is a big difference" between the Democrats and the Republicans.

Gale Kaufman, a Democratic strategist who advised the Bradley campaign in California, said comparing the Bush-McCain endorsement dance to Gore and Bradley is like comparing apples and oranges. Bradley immediately pledged support for his triumphant opponent. McCain did not.

And though Kaufman believes Bradley's appeal to independents and moderates could benefit Gore, she downplays joint appearances and endorsements as photo-ops with limited value.

"I think it's always very hard to have other people's support translate into support for you," said Kaufman.

But the publicity surrounding the Bush-McCain photo-op (including, of all things, a spoof by the Democrats) may force the Gore and Bradley campaigns to arrange a joint event sooner than they would like.

After enduring a stream of stories about McCain's failure to formally endorse Bush, Republicans are seizing the opportunity to give what they got. On Wednesday, the Republican National Committee website posted a "wanted" poster for Bradley.

The GOP can afford to laugh now that the question of "will he or won't he?" is past history for them.

But Democrats suggest that McCain's insistence on maintaining a high profile will cost the GOP.

"One thing Bill Bradley did - with class and dignity - is left the stage," said Carrick. "McCain is a mixed blessing."