Wednesday, September 06, 2000

Ohio is major battleground for presidential politics

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By Howard Wilkinson
The Cincinnati Enquirer

        COLUMBUS — Al Gore had 50 states to choose from when he decided where he would unveil his economic plan to wipe out the national debt, encourage savings and narrow the gap between rich and poor.

        But Ohio was the one he wanted.

        “No state is more important than Ohio,” the Democratic presidential candidate said here Tuesday in a half-hour interview with six Ohio newspaper reporters.

Vice President Al Gore greets employees Tuesday at Resource Marketing Inc. in Columbus, where he outlined his economic plan. (Stephan Savoia photo) | ZOOM |

        “You all ought to be used to that here; it seems always to be the case in presidential elections.”

        Ohio is a state considered important enough by the Gore-Lieberman campaign to be the site of a major economic address at Cleveland State University this morning. Mr. Gore will lay out a specific plan for continuing and expanding on the economic prosperity of the past four years.

        After a campaign event at an internet marketing firm in downtown Columbus on Tuesday, a weary Mr. Gore sipped decaffeinated coffee and laid out the basics:

        The plan would:

        • Set in motion a plan to make America “debt free” by the year 2012. The deficit is $5.6 trillion.

        • Put Social Security and Medicare funds in a “lock box,” and guarantee Social Security benefits for the next 55 years and Medicare for the next 30.

        • Double the number of American families who have $50,000 or more in savings by offering tax credits and deductions for retirement savings accounts — “Savings Plus Accounts,” he called them — that would be retirement income over and above Social Security.

        “George Bush wants to set up retirement accounts with part of what people are paying into Social Security,” Mr. Gore said. “I say we can offer them something over and above what Social Security provides with tax incentives.

        “That's an offer you can't refuse,” the vice president said.

        Ohio was chosen by the Gore campaign because it is considered a microcosm of the national economy, with its mix of urban and rural, smokestack and high-tech industries. The state also has helped make Bill Clinton president in the past two elections.

        Mr. Gore's campaign has surged since the Democratic National Convention last month, but it apparently still lags in Ohio. A Columbus Dispatch mail poll of registered voters last week showed Republican George W. Bush with a 6-point lead in Ohio.

        Voters in Ohio and other key states have seen dozens of Democratic commercials promoting the vice president as a leader and tearing down Mr. Bush's record as governor of Texas. Republicans have been advertising, too, but not as aggressively.

        The Democrats spent $35 million over the summer compared to more than $25 million by the Republicans. The Gore and Bush campaigns, which both went on the air in the last week of August, spent about $5.5 million each.

        “You just can't let the other side spend that many more dollars than you,” said Kenneth Goldstein of the University of Wisconsin, who is analyzing ad spending.

        “Advertising is most likely to have an effect when you have a one-sided flow of information.”

        According to his analysis, 60 percent of all campaign-ad spending in August in the Cincinnati TV market has been paid for by the Democratic National Committee or the Gore campaign. In Louisville, it was 64 percent.

        Republicans, who traditionally have more money than Democrats, counter they'll have more to spend when they need it most, closer to Election Day.

        Aside from the ad dollars pouring into the state, the importance of Ohio in the presidential race is underscored by the amount of time the presidential contenders and their running mates have spent here.

        Mr. Gore is spending two days in Ohio this week. Running mate Joseph Lieberman was in Toledo on Labor Day. Mr. Gore's daughter, Karenna Gore Schiff, will be in Newport today. Mr. Bush is expected in Dayton on Thursday.

        Tuesday, at a session with business leaders and educators at Resource Marketing Inc. in Columbus, Mr. Gore was joined by the most popular Democrat in Ohio in recent decades, former U.S. Sen. John Glenn, who had stayed away from the campaign trail until now.

        Mr. Glenn, in his 24-year political career, was able to do what Mr. Gore must do now to win Ohio — attract the votes of many Republicans and independents.

        Tuesday, talking with Ohio reporters, Mr. Gore appeared tired, frequently rubbing his eyes and face and, occasionally, stifling a yawn.

        He was fatigued from a Sunday-Monday tour of a half-dozen key states with Mr. Lieberman, a marathon that ended Monday night in Louisville.

        Most national polls show that only about 10 percent of those likely to vote Nov. 7 have yet to make up their minds about the presidential race.

        Mr. Gore scoffed at suggestions by some pundits and Bush supporters that those voters are going to make up their minds based on personal attributes of the candidates or which one they think has the “character” to be president.

        “I think they're going to respond to specifics,” Mr. Gore said. “I want to tell those swing voters that I want to ensure that our prosperity enriches not just the few, but the many.

        “The Bush campaign wants to draw your attention away from issues,” Mr. Gore said. “They want this election decided on anything but issues.”

       The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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