Gore Back in the Political Spotlight

DES MOINES —  Edging back onto the political stage, former Vice President Al Gore on Saturday night described President Bush as “my commander in chief” and urged the nation to rally behind the man who beat him in last fall’s bitterly contested election.

In a subdued, rambling, gently self-deprecating speech to 1,600 party activists at the Iowa Democratic Party’s annual Jefferson-Jackson fund-raising dinner, Gore displayed the most passion in pledging support for Bush as he constructs his response to the attacks of Sept. 11.

“We are united behind our president, George W. Bush, behind our country, behind the effort to seek justice not revenge, to make sure this can never, ever happen again and to make sure we have the strongest unity in America that we have ever had,” Gore said as the audience rose to its feet. “There are no divisions in this country where our response to the war on terrorism is concerned.”

Gore said that even though Democrats may question some of Bush’s decisions in the months ahead, they need to place the highest priority on supporting the president once he sets his course.

“It will be hard for President Bush to find the right path; whoever was there would find it hard to respond to this,” Gore said. “So as Democrats, let’s keep this bipartisanship alive for as long as our country faces this threat.”

The speech in Iowa--site of the traditional initial contest in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination--was Gore’s first major public appearance since he conceded the 2000 election to Bush last December. Since then, Gore has kept a resolutely low profile, traveling, teaching, growing a beard (which he still sported Saturday night) and avoiding the media.

That understated approach characterized this visit as well. Gore spent Friday and Saturday morning reconnecting with some of his Iowa supporters--albeit in an unusually low-key manner that might offer an early hint of how a potential 2004 Gore campaign would differ from the carefully scripted and heavily staffed 2000 version.

Arriving in Iowa on Thursday night, Gore rented a Ford Taurus and drove himself around the state, visiting acquaintances and activists in some half-dozen cities and towns. Gore called most of them only shortly before he arrived. On Friday night, he visited an Islamic Center in Cedar Rapids; on Saturday morning, he delivered doughnuts to striking machinists in Amana.

“It’s wonderful not to have the Secret Service around,” said Paulee Lipsman, a longtime Democratic activist who saw Gore at a party reception Saturday afternoon. “There was no rope line; you got to talk to him. It was clear he was enjoying it and people were enjoying it.”

In his speech, Gore joked that his trip through Iowa reminded him of why “this is a time of transition” for him. “For example,” he said in a joking reference to the motorcades that characterized his last campaign, “they let other cars on the road with me now when I go out.”

In early polls, most rank-and-file Democrats have said they would like Gore to run in 2004. But the prospect of another Gore bid has drawn a much cooler reception from many party insiders--fund-raisers and elected officials--who think that he squandered a winning hand with the strong economy in 2000. Gore has told supporters it’s much too early for him to decide whether he’ll seek to challenge Bush.

Meanwhile, several potential rivals had begun laying the groundwork for 2004 bids, among them Sens. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and John Edwards (D-N.C.). Those early organizational efforts, though, have been largely put on hold--along with most partisan activity in both parties--since the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

In that environment, the decision to hold this party dinner was somewhat controversial. The political columnist of the Des Moines Register had called on the party to cancel the event, saying it was inappropriate in the attack’s aftermath.

But although the party temporarily suspended the sale of tickets after Sept. 11, officials portrayed the gathering as a necessary step toward recovery. “The president is having the nation fly the flag at full staff; [New York] Mayor [Rudolph W.] Giuliani is asking us to move on with our life,” said Iowa Democratic Party chairwoman Sheila McGuire Riggs. “Clearly it was time to move forward.”

Still, like almost everything else in American life, the event clearly bore the imprint of the tragedy. The tone was restrained, the program began with a moment of silence for the victims, and the evening was entirely devoid of the slashing partisan rhetoric that is usually consumed even more avidly than the wine at party functions like this. Instead, on every table were piled buttons that read “United we stand.”

Partisan preferences seeped out when several speakers gently argued that domestic challenges such as education and the slowing economy shouldn’t be entirely forgotten in the concern over terrorism. But Iowa’s Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack captured the dominant mood when he closed his speech with a passionate exhortation: “God bless Democrats; God bless Republicans; God bless independents; God bless Americans all.”

For Gore, the dramatic change in the political climate after Sept. 11 resolved what could have been a difficult choice about the speech itself. He accepted the invitation from the Iowa party this summer amid grumbling from some of his supporters that he had kept himself out of the domestic debate for too long. But as soon as he committed to speak, Gore advisors acknowledged he was uncertain whether he was ready to directly reenter the political arena and criticize Bush’s record.

In effect, the attack settled the issue for Gore. At a time when even the most ardent partisans in both parties have muted their disagreements, Gore delivered a plea for unity not only in the short run but also in the long term.

“In the struggle to come, victory will be hard to achieve and difficult to define,” he said. “This is going to be real hard, but we have to stay with it.”

“Our greatest power,” Gore added, “is found in our devotion to one another.”