Gore’s Clout To Be Tested After Obama Endorsement

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The New York Sun

WASHINGTON — Now that Vice President Gore has officially endorsed Senator Obama, Democrats will find out how much the Nobel laureate’s newly elevated national stature can translate into electoral clout.

The party’s nominee in 2000 threw his support to Mr. Obama yesterday in a message to his legion of supporters and a joint appearance at a rally in Michigan, a state that is potentially crucial to the Illinois senator’s chances of victory. Mr. Gore had remained neutral for the 17-month primary campaign, and his widely expected endorsement gives Mr. Obama the final missing piece in his bid to win over the Democratic Party establishment.

“From now through Election Day, I intend to do whatever I can to make sure he is elected president of the United States,” Mr. Gore wrote in a note posted on his Web site yesterday afternoon, adding that Mr. Obama has “united a movement.”

Addressing a roaring crowd of thousands in Detroit, Mr. Gore delivered a full-throated endorsement of Mr. Obama’s message of change and stressed the importance of the coming campaign with a nod to his own defeat by the narrowest of margins eight years ago. “Take it from me: Elections matter,” Mr. Gore said to cheers.

Though he has emerged as a fierce critic of the Bush administration, Mr. Gore has largely eschewed politics since winning the Nobel Peace Prize last year for his advocacy on the issue of climate change. After he dismissed talk of a second presidential bid of his own, Mr. Gore’s endorsement became the most coveted of any Democrat’s during the primary, and his steadfast neutrality fueled speculation that he would be forced to intervene if the battle between Mr. Obama and Senator Clinton reached the nominating convention in August.

More recently, a prominent Democratic strategist who is close to the Clintons, James Carville, suggested that Mr. Obama ask Mr. Gore to serve again as vice president. A spokeswoman for Mr. Gore, Kalee Kreider, said he had ruled out that possibility, citing his response to questions after he received his Nobel Prize last year.

Ms. Kreider said Mr. Gore would campaign for Mr. Obama, as well as candidates for other offices “committed to solving the climate crisis.”

Alluding to his reticence about jumping back into the political fray, Mr. Gore noted that his message yesterday was the first time he had used his own Web site to ask supporters to contribute to a campaign. “This moment and this election are too important to let pass without taking action,” he wrote.

Mr. Gore actually told Mr. Obama of his decision on the afternoon of June 3, the day he secured enough delegates to clinch the nomination. The announcement was delayed as staff to both men coordinated their schedules to find the best time and venue for a joint appearance, an aide said. The Obama campaign likely also wanted to ensure that the Gore endorsement would have the spotlight to itself and not be subsumed by endorsements from other Democrats or the days-long speculation surrounding Mrs. Clinton’s next moves.

The nighttime rally at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena came on a day when Mr. Obama outlined an agenda aimed at keeping America competitive in the global economy. While criticizing Senator McCain on a range of economic issues, he called for improvements in education and college affordability, and he touted his plan to spend $150 billion on investments for alternative energy sources. He also called for new spending on infrastructure and scientific research.

In a further indication of his transition to general election politics, Mr. Obama in Michigan toned down the denunciations of the North American Free Trade Agreement that filled his speeches during the Democratic primary in neighboring Ohio. Instead, he struck a moderate chord on global markets, lauding the benefits of free trade while denouncing agreements that lack labor and environmental provisions.

“If we continue to let our trade policy be dictated by special interests, then American workers will continue to be undermined, and public support for robust trade will continue to erode,” Mr. Obama said at an event in Flint, Mich., a town roiled in recent decades by the decline in manufacturing. “That might make sense to the Washington lobbyists who run Senator McCain’s campaign, but it won’t help our nation compete.”

Advisers to the presumptive Republican nominee responded by criticizing Mr. Obama’s plans to raise taxes and citing a record that they characterized as staunchly opposed to free trade. “Many have called Barack Obama the most protectionist candidate that the Democratic Party has ever fielded. And indeed his record supports that charge,” a senior economic adviser to the McCain campaign, Carleton Fiorina, told reporters on a conference call.


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