CBS Early Show Transcript

SHOW: THE EARLY SHOW (7:00 AM ET)
October 27, 2000, Friday
HEADLINE: VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE DISCUSSES HIS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN, HIS PROPOSALS AND GOVERNOR GEORGE W. BUSH'S CAMPAIGN
ANCHORS: JANE CLAYSON; BRYANT GUMBEL

BODY:

BRYANT GUMBEL, co-host: Mr. Vice President, good morning.

Vice President AL GORE (Democratic Presidential Candidate): Good morning, Bryant. How are you?

GUMBEL: I'm fine, thanks. How you doing?

Vice Pres. GORE: I'm doing great. Thank you.

GUMBEL: As we—as we sit here this morning and look to the campaign with 10 days left, what are you? Are you content, confident, conflicted, concerned, what?

Vice Pres. GORE: I'm fired up. I'm enjoying it, and I'm looking forward to a major speech here in West Virginia on the new economy today. And I think the—the fact is, prosperity itself is on the ballot this year, and my—my whole message is focused on how we can keep the prosperity going, not put it at risk, and how we can extend it to include everyone.

GUMBEL: Speaking of economy, I don't know if you've seen this morning's New York Times, but on the—on the front page, the—the lead column here has a story about how the budget negotiations between the president and Congress could spend more than 40 percent of the surplus that you and Governor Bush had been planning to use on your new proposals. How does that change your plans?

Vice Pres. GORE: Well, it doesn't.

GUMBEL: It doesn't?

Vice Pres. GORE: I—I doubt that'll—I doubt that'll be the final outcome there. In any case, we need to pay down the debt, not build it up, and I will veto anything that takes money out of Social Security for anything other than Social Security, or—or anything that builds up the debt. My—part of my plan is to balance the budget every year and pay down the debt, and with these large surpluses, we—we will have the—the ability as a country to do that.

GUMBEL: If the surpluses are...

Vice Pres. GORE: But we need—with—go ahead.

GUMBEL: If the surpluses are 80 percent of what you're projecting, will you scale all of your programs back 80 percent, or will some have to be curtailed altogether?

Vice Pres. GORE: Well, Bryant, I put a rainy-day fund in my budget of $ 300 billion to guard against the possibility that there would have to be that kind of outcome. But the—the point is, we—we—we have to focus on not just fiscal discipline, that's critical, but also investing in the right priorities, like public schools. Now the key to it is not squandering the surplus on a massive tax cut that goes mostly to the—to the wealthy, and instead focusing on middle-class tax cuts. Under Governor Bush's plan, almost half of all of his proposed tax cuts go to the wealthiest 1 percent, and—and his own figures show that.

GUMBEL: Understood.

Vice Pres. GORE: So that's irresponsible.

GUMBEL: OK. In a fi—in a final effort to win this thing, to energize voters, you have 10 days left. What are you going to do in the 10 days that you haven't already done time and again?

Vice Pres. GORE: Well, I'm going to work from before dawn until very late at night, and I'm going to be traveling all over the country. I'm actually enjoying this, Bryant. I—I—I really am excited by the closeness of the contest and how high the stakes are. We have an opportunity...

GUMBEL: How can you be exci—you can you be exc—how can you be excited about it—by it when you—when you've turned what many people thought would be a romp into a race?

Vice Pres. GORE: Well, it's true that earlier this year Governor Bush was ahead by 20 points, and I've not only closed that—that gap, but in—in most of the—the—the analyses, we've definitely got the momentum. And I find that part very exciting. But it's not about me and it's not about him. It's about the American people and it's about the future of our country. And I have...

GUMBEL: Well, you keep saying that—Mr. Vice President, you keep saying that...

Vice Pres. GORE: Yeah.

GUMBEL: ...but poll after poll suggests it is very much about you and very much about him.

Vice Pres. GORE: But, you know, the—I g—I guess that it's true that the American people look both at the individuals and at the policies, but the reason I'm fighting for the policies I'm fighting for is because they will benefit the American people. I don't go along with the philosophy that George Bush represents, which says give the surplus mostly to the very wealthy and it will filter down. We tried that, Bryant. It doesn't work.

GUMBEL: Mr. Vice...

Vice Pres. GORE: What does work is what I've been fighting for for the last several years, to put the focus on—on working people and middle-class families and then that lifts the entire economy.

GUMBEL: Mr. Vice President, I hear you. I empathize. But—but in poll after poll, we are seeing that people believe in you, believe in your skills, give you a—a—a much better credibility rating to deal with these things than they do Governor Bush. Yet in poll after poll, they quite simply like Governor Bush more.

Vice Pres. GORE: Well, I am who I am, and they have spent twice as much money and they have focused it on negative personal attacks. I am not going to respond in kind. I'm going to talk about the issues. I think that's the way our democracy thrives the best. They want to launch personal attacks every day, millions of dollars from the wealthy special interests to finance personal attacks, look, that's their—they—they can do that if that's how they want to spend their time and all the special interests' money. I'm going to keep talking about the issues. We need a Patients Bill of Rights to give the decisions back to the doctors. The fact that the HMOs are supporting Governor Bush and pumping millions of dollars into personal attacks doesn't change that. I want to give a prescription drug benefit to all seniors under Medicare. The fact that the big drug companies support Governor Bush and are pumping millions of dollars into personal attacks doesn't change that.

GUMBEL: Speak—speaking...

Vice Pres. GORE: I want to raise the minimum wage. Go ahead.

GUMBEL: Speaking of attacks, I don't know if you've seen it or not, but on behalf of Governor Bush, the GOP has taken to—to running the infamous daisy commercial of Goldwater days and substituting the language and using you and suggesting that your dealings with China have threatened national security. What's your reaction to that?

Vice Pres. GORE: Well, I—I have no idea what we're talking about. It's another personal attack.

GUMBEL: Do you think it's a sign of desperation?

Vice Pres. GORE: That's your word. That would be inflammatory if I used it. I—I haven't even seen the ad, Bryant. But they're—this is classic for them in the final days of a campaign, to—to try to concentrate on the negative and the personal attacks. Look, we have a chance to create a golden era on the foundation of prosperity that has come out of—of the fights of the last few years on behalf of the American people. I—I think that we have got to give middle-class tax cuts and continue the fiscal responsibility and then invest in our public schools and reduce the class size, clean up the environment, expand access to health care, and protect Social Security. They want to raid Social Security. That is not—that is—that is actually the consequence of his promise of—to take $ 1 trillion dollars...

GUMBEL: Sure.

Vice Pres. GORE: ...out of the Social Security trust fund...

GUMBEL: Sure.

Vice Pres. GORE: ...and promise it to two different groups of people. That is very irresponsible.

GUMBEL: Mr. Vice President, in this war of politics, you have arguably the best campaigner of our time, a Howitzer of sorts, that is going unused in the White House. Will you use Bill Clinton on the campaign trail in the week ahead?

Vice Pres. GORE: I'm campaigning on my own, Bryant. I think that's the way it should be. I'm campaigning on my own agenda.

I'm my own person.

GUMBEL: I—I don't...

Vice Pres. GORE: And he's—he's helping to get out the vote, and I appreciate that. But I'm campaigning on my own.

GUMBEL: I—I don't dispute that. You are your own man. But why wouldn't you use him?

Vice Pres. GORE: Well, basically, because I am campaigning on my own and because the Congress is still in session and the Middle East negotiations are still going on and he has a full-time job. And this—this race is about where we go from here, what is in the future. And I want to present my proposals for the future of this country and I'm going to do that.

GUMBEL: You talk about his potential for energizing the base. Why is it, Mr. Vice President, that after eight incredibly successful Democratic years in—in the White House, polls consistently show that your Democratic base is—is more disaffected and less energized than the governor's Republican base? Why is that?

Vice Pres. GORE: I don't agree with that. That's not what I'm feeling out here.

GUMBEL: Well—well, the—the numbers suggest that. I mean, in an AP report out this week—I'll just point...

Vice Pres. GORE: Well, you said the numbers in the polls. You know, the—the poll...

GUMBEL: Well, let me—let me—let me just—let me just point out one thing. Let me just point out one thing. AP report, 10 states have gone Democratic in each of the last three elections. You're ahead in only four of them. In the other six, you're either tied or lagging behind. Why is that? That's a Democratic base.

Vice Pres. GORE: Look, this is a—the electoral map is scrambled all over the country. We're ahead in Florida and—and a lot of areas where seniors are very concerned about the irresponsible approach to Social Security and Medicare that they're—that they're putting forward. This is a close race. It's going down to the wire. It's the closest race since John Kennedy beat Richard Nixon by one vote per precinct. And it's a time when people are looking very carefully at the issues and fighting their way through the hu--$ 100 million-plus special interests campaign that—that the Republicans have put on with special interests' money. And, you know, in the closing days, what I'm feeling and hearing is a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of intense focus on why it is that prosperity itself is on the ballot, why we have to make the right big choice to keep the prosperity going and extend it to everyone.

GUMBEL: How much is Ralph Nader hurting you?

Vice Pres. GORE: I think that in the closing days of the election, it's likely that most voters will want to participate in the choice between myself and Governor Bush. But I don't like the—the argument that a—a vote for Nader is a vote for Bush. I think it's true, but I much prefer to make the argument that I want people to enthusiastically support the agenda that I—I represent. I've spent 24 years fighting against the special interests, wherever necessary, to fight for middle-class families and working men and women. All the—the—the special interests, the polluters, etc., are backing Governor Bush and fighting against me tooth and nail because they know I've got the experience to take them on. I want to hear their point of view. They have a legitimate point of view. But they shouldn't drown out the—the best interests of the American people by keeping the drug prices high through extending their artificial monopolies. They should not fight against a prescription drug benefit and a Patients Bill of Rights and against an increase in the minimum wage. Come on, we—we need to fight for the people who have the hardest time making car payments and house payments and doing right by their kids.

GUMBEL: OK. We have about a minute left. Two final questions, one of them political, one of them personal. On the political front, I know there are many, but what's the one big political difference you want voters to remember when they go to the polls on Election Day?

Vice Pres. GORE: Prosperity is on the ballot. I'll fight for middle-class families. I will not squander the surplus on a tax cut for the wealthiest 1 percent. Instead, I'll give middle-class tax cuts, I'll balance the budget, I'll pay down the debt...

GUMBEL: So it's taxes.

Vice Pres. GORE: ...and I'll invest in schools and education and clean up the environment.

GUMBEL: And forget the politics and positions for just one moment. What can you tell voters about why you, Al Gore, are a better man for the job?

Vice Pres. GORE: Well, I may not be the most exciting politician, but I will work hard every day, I will fight for the average person and I will never let you down.

GUMBEL: Mr. Vice President, thank you so very much.

Vice Pres. GORE: Thank you, Bryant.

GUMBEL: We'll talk again, I hope, in the coming days. Take care.

Vice Pres. GORE: I look forward to it. Bye-bye.

Copyright 2000 Burrelle's Information Services. CBS News Transcripts.