Answers Reporters' Questions After Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press"

HEADLINE: VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE ANSWERS REPORTERS' QUESTIONS AFTER APPEARING ON NBC'S "MEET THE PRESS"

SPEAKER:
U.S. VICE PRESIDENT ALBERT GORE (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

*

GORE: Howdy! OK. How are you?

QUESTION: Can you tell us if there are any new developments about the arrest of the man in Seattle and how serious you view this terrorist threat?

GORE: Well, we take the potential for terrorist threats extremely seriously. We have beefed up security at the borders, and—in—in every way, and they're doing a good job in apprehending this individual and in monitoring the possibility of threats from others.

Let me just make a comment if I could about the—about the debate that just closed.

(CROSSTALK)

What?

(CROSSTALK)

Oh. Oh, OK. Senator Bradley does not want to—to deal with questions about his health-care plan or about education and doesn't want to accept the challenge to debate twice a week until this nomination is decided. I think debates are the best way to give information to the American people about what we would do in the presidency. I want to fight for the American people. I enjoyed the debate here, be glad to have—answer your questions.

QUESTION: Why do you want to stop TV ads and the short ads? Is...

GORE: Well, because I think...

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) -- any problem?

GORE: No, not at all. I think that the best way to communicate is through face-to-face debates and discussions of the ideas, and more than half of all the expenditures for adver—for campaigns goes to these 30-second commercials. The 30-second ads are rarely illuminating.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) -- George Bush or John McCain if...

GORE: Yes. Yes, I will, and I will—if I'm the Democrat nominee for president, the first thing I will do is to issue the same pl—the same challenge to the Republican nominee to have a debate twice a week through the duration of the entire campaign. I—I think it would be good to pick a different issue for each debate, at least for some of them, so we could really get into the details of each issue, and I would also issue the same challenge to eliminate all of the television and radio advertisements in the general election.

QUESTION: Mr. Vice President, would you basically for the cameras repeat what your proposal to Senator Bradley was on this issue? Could you just go through again what you were offering?

GORE: Yeah. I challenged Senator Bradley to completely eliminate—to join with me in completely eliminating all television and radio spots, these little 30-second commercials that are designed to—to put out images and whatnot, and, instead, have twice weekly debates on the substantive issues that are confronting the American people. I think that would be a far better way to conduct presidential elections.

QUESTION: Mr. Vice President, what about that notion, though, that you can articulate your points in a 30-second spot, if, indeed, you know what they are, which is what Mr. Bradley was saying?

GORE: Oh, I know what they are, and—what—what you have in most 30-second commercials are images and— and whatnot, and—you know, if we're really serious about getting the influence of money out of politics, that's where the vast majority of it goes. Why not just have a good discussion and debate of all the issues and ideas in front of the American people twice a week—that would give us time to prepare for each one—and let people decide on that basis?

QUESTION: Mr. Vice President, Chairman Nicholson's response to today's debate was that...

GORE: I'm sorry?

QUESTION: Mr. Vice President, Chairman Jim Nicholson of the RNC's response to today's debate was that there was more bickering, that you and Bill Bradley are essentially the same candidates. Where did you feel like there were the sharp differences between you and Senator Bradley?

GORE: Oh, I think the sharpest differences are clearly on education where Senator Bradley has not put forward a-a plan to improve education and I've proposed $115 billion to bring revolutionary improvements to our public schools; on health care where Senator Bradley's plan would eliminate Medicaid and put in its place $150 vouchers that can't purchase benefits anywhere nearly equal to Medicaid—he doesn't save a penny for Medicare whereas I devote 15 percent of the budget surplus to safeguard Medicare.

These are the kinds of differences that I think are quite profound, but I might say that all of the Republican candidates have proposed a risky tax scheme that would eliminate the surplus also and would not get anything for it except the risk of a recession, higher interest rates, and economic problems.

QUESTION: What is your reaction...

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: ... to the issue of raising the retirement age on Social Security?

GORE: Well, I do. I don't know whether he does or not, but I do not favor raising the retirement age for Social Security or Medicare.

Thank you all very much.

END

NOTES:
Unknown - Indicates speaker unknown.
Inaudible - Could not make out what was being said.
off mike - Indicates could not make out what was being said.

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