AS if Al Gore didn’t have enough to worry about in the 2000 race, he’d better start looking back over his shoulder in New Hampshire because Bill Bradley is gaining on him – fast.
A new Reuter/Zogby poll puts the veep at 52 percent among likely Democratic voters in the first primary state, with Bradley vaulting into striking distance at 35 percent – up from the teens or low 20s in prior polls.
To put it another way, Gore’s lead over Bradley in New Hampshire – a state that loves to upset front-runners – is smaller than GOP 2000 front-runner George W. Bush’s 20-point-plus lead over Gore in several recent national polls.
In another sign that Bradley is a suddenly-serious contender, sources say he’s about to pick up his first big-name endorsements – Seattle Mayor Paul Schell (whose state just moved up its primary to next Feb. 29) and liberal Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone.
Nope, endorsements don’t bring many votes. But pols aren’t dumb and they don’t generally defy a sitting vice president to endorse his challenger unless they think the guy has a real chance to win.
It’s many months until next February’s Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, but a growing number of analysts say “Al Bore” had better rethink his whole strategy now before it’s too late, particularly with Kosovo threatening to haunt his candidacy.
The biggest problem, many say, is that Gore doesn’t seem comfortable in his own skin. He seems over-coached, unsure of his instincts and just plain silly when he claims he invented the Internet or can birth a calf with his bare hands.
Can Gore fix things? Here’s what some top political pros said (some Dems thought it wiser to speak anonymously):
*GOP pollster Ed Goeas: “‘Gore is starting to be Quayle-ized. He’s trying to be something he isn’t. The first thing he has to do is turn this around so people are laughing with him, not at him, by telling jokes on himself.
“Kosovo could be a real problem for him. Here we are bending over backward not to lose any troops in this techno-war and we wake up and find 15 dead kids in Littleton. That could mean people will want to pay more attention to domestic issues than foreign affairs.”
*Democratic strategist (anonymous): “Gore’s problems are worse in some ways than being Quayle-ized because Gore is a cautious man and the mistakes he has made only make him more cautious at a time when he needs to be bold. Bradley knows who he is and Gore doesn’t.
“Gore needs to find a way to triangulate between Clinton and the Republicans, to put himself above what’s going on in Washington. But his biggest problem is the fund-raising – it makes him part of the Clinton slime.”
*Democratic strategist David Doak: “Gore doesn’t have a strong message but Bradley obviously has a message – part of it is that he’s not Gore. My first advice to Gore is: Don’t panic.
“But second, Gore is spending all this time doing traditional political things like fund-raising and he doesn’t have a message about what it is he wants to do or why he wants to be president. He has to stop and find one.”
*Democratic strategist Joe Trippi: “My advice is, stop acting like you own this thing. Stop being the vice president. Fight for it – get out and ride a bus again. He’s acting like a kid from St. Albans [Gore’s prep school] playing against a guy who knows how to play street ball.”
*Democratic strategist (anonymous): “I’d tell him to take a weekend off with Tipper and the kids and his mom and figure why it is that he entered public life and what he wants to do to lead the nation.
“But his real problem is that the American people think they know him pretty well and they aren’t open to new information about him.”
*Republican strategist Kellyanne Fitzpatrick: “He needs to resign. He needs to not be the second half of the Clinton-Gore administration. He should have done it over Sexgate. It’s harder to do now with Kosovo.”
*Republican strategist Eva Campbell: “Gore is the kid who was a little too smart in school and didn’t have friends. His problem is that his presentation of himself is different from reality. I don’t know how he can fix that.”