Gore-Bush II: Look for a couple of nice guys, talking issues

By Ron Fournier

WASHINGTON (AP): The presidential candidates are going after each other off camera -- Is Al Gore trustworthy enough to be president? Is George W. Bush qualified? -- but when the lights go on Wednesday night for their second debate, voters can look for both men to turn on the charm.

Neither candidate wants to risk any further voter backlash by openly going on the attack, whatever their negative ads and quote-slinging surrogates are saying elsewhere.

"I think that each candidate has to let the other candidate's personal shortcomings speak for themselves," said independent pollster Andrew Kohut.

His new poll for the Pew Research Center shows the race even after last week's first debate, with both candidates suffering "personal image fallout" since summer.

More voters are questioning Gore's likability and trustworthiness, causing his September lead over Bush to vanish.

On the other hand, Bush trails Gore by 18 percentage points in the Pew poll when voters are asked to name the most qualified candidate. In a CBS poll, 70 percent said Gore has prepared himself well enough to be president, and only 48 percent said the same about Bush. The Republican governor from Texas is less likely than Gore to be viewed as capable in a crisis, the Pew poll showed.

Democratic strategist Dane Strother boiled the campaign down to a sentence: "Bush is calling Gore a liar and Gore is calling Bush a dummy."

And yet both camps predict a straightforward, polite exchange Wednesday night. Their reasons differ.

Gore's advisers say he has to be nice so voters will find him more likable. His reputation for political brawling -- and a superior attitude -- was magnified by his performance last week.

Bush, too, doesn't want to seem mean and thus displease voters who have heard him promise to be a "compassionate conservative." He is gambling that the media and Republican supporters will make the integrity case against Gore after the debate, leaving him the high road to become an acceptable alternative.

If asked about Gore's integrity, Bush plans to pivot quickly to other issues after saying trust must be an important consideration in the campaign, advisers said. That would be at least a modest departure from the first debate, when Bush seized his first chance late in the debate to directly question Gore's character.

Bush hopes to inflame voters' doubts about Gore's honesty to counter the vice president's advantage on domestic issues such as health care, prescription drugs for seniors and the economy. Gore holds a double-digit lead on those issues, according to the Pew poll, and Bush has only managed to tie Gore on the traditionally Republican issue of taxes.

With the economy booming and the nation at peace, Bush must make Gore's character an issue, analysts say. By doing so, he reminds voters of President Bill Clinton's impeachment and other ethical lapses during Gore's stay at the White House.

Titled Trust, Bush's newest ad outlines his vision for government but opens with a line sure to remind many voters of Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky: "I believe we need to encourage personal responsibility so people are accountable for their actions."

Republican Party ads say Gore can't be trusted with the federal budget surplus or tax-cutting promises.

Democratic ads, meanwhile, are criticizing the Republican's record in Texas. And Gore's advisers are openly questioning Bush's intellect, branding him a bumbling lightweight.

"Governor Bush seems incapable of talking about the important issues in this campaign in a coherent way," said Gore deputy campaign manager Mark Fabiani.

The Bush campaign's reply was obvious: Don't trust anything the Gore campaign says.

Don't expect that kind of talk Wednesday night, either.