ALTER: Everyone who knows you agrees that you seem so much looser, funny and more human in private than in public. Are you going to close that gap? GORE: I think that’s another way of describing the change that I noticed the need for several weeks ago. In the words of Janis Joplin, freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose.
Do you really feel you’re the underdog now? I’m behind in New Hampshire. According to some, I’m behind in New York. It feels like an underdog candidacy, and I’m going to campaign like an underdog.
The conventional view in postwar American politics is that a bloody primary fight is bad for the party in November. Is this year going to disprove that? I hope so. I think that the phrase “bloody primary fight” is one thing I’d like to change. A hard-fought, close battle for the nomination doesn’t have to be bloody. It can be elevating. It can be invigorating. It can draw people toward the process rather than pushing them away. If the two of us have a debate on a different issue every two weeks and conduct our campaign in a way that purposely seeks to rekindle the American spirit, then we could find that a vigorous contest for the nomination has exactly the opposite effect and instead enhances rather than diminishes the prospects of the nominee.
What are the differences between you and Bill Bradley? Well, they will come out in the public dialogue of the campaign. I hope he accepts my challenge to have a bunch of debates, because I think that’s the best way to draw out the differences rather than lobbing verbal grenades at one another from the trenches… Part of the problem with campaigns as they have been run is that with the media as filters and interpreters, the negative messages naturally get enhanced. I’d like to give a chance to this alternative approach.
But you’re a very aggressive campaigner. Politics ain’t beanbag, right? No, it’s not, but it can get intense without getting negative… As the campaign dialogue heats up, you’ll see a lot of differences, and some similarities. But I respect Bill Bradley. I like Bill Bradley. He’s a decent man and I’m glad to be in a contest with him.
