Posted on Wed, Sep. 18, 2002

BY TERE FIGUERAS tfigueras@herald.com

No stranger to bungled elections, erstwhile presidential nominee Al Gore was in town Monday to stump for Democratic causes -- and blame the other Bush brother for last week's voting fiasco.

The former vice president pointed to Gov. Jeb Bush as the cause of confusion that made South Florida the emblem of election screw-ups. He blamed the president's brother for not making good on promises to fix balloting after the chad-plagued 2000 recount.

''Once again, out of all 50 states, only one is being held up on national television by Jay Leno and David Letterman,'' Gore said while visiting supporters of proposed class-size limits at an office building at 111 NW 183rd St.

Gore pitched in on the phones, asking registered voters to support the class-size caps on Nov. 5. When state Sen. Kendrick Meek assured one woman over the phone, ''Oh, we'll make sure the voting goes right this time,'' Gore leaned over with a smile.

''You've got some work to do,'' he said. ``You need to get a new governor.''

Gore also spent the day fending off rumors he is planning a presidential challenge in 2004.

''I'll make an announcement by the end of the year,'' said Gore, whose post-election activities have included teaching a class at Columbia University and dabbling with facial hair.

The Bush camp brushed off Gore's criticism of the governor -- as well as his recent forays into the political spotlight.

''Al Gore is yesterday's news,'' said Todd Harris, spokesman for the Bush campaign, who said responsibility for the Sept. 10 elections rests on elections supervisors in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. ``If the Democrats want to bring him down to campaign every week between now and November, I say more power to them.''

And on Gore's support of the class-size cap, Harris deadpanned: ``If Al Gore can figure out a way to pay for the class size amendment without bankrupting the state, it will make the incredible work he did to invent the Internet look easy.''

The class-size amendment, pushed by Meek, would require the state to provide enough funding by 2010 to limit class sizes: 18 students for kindergarten through third grade, 22 students for fourth through eighth grade and 25 kids per high school class.

Bush has argued that the proposal would wreak havoc on Florida's budget and strip state resources. A panel of state-appointed economists has estimated the plan would cost at least $20 billion over the next eight years, but Meek and other supporters have disputed that number.

Gore also attended a private gathering at the Hollywood home of Democratic fundraisers Leo and Ruth Ghitis who earlier this year hosted a reception for Joseph Lieberman -- Gore's former running mate and another possible candidate in 2004. Monday's event garnered about $100,000 for the Florida Democratic Party, said Mitchell Berger, a Fort Lauderdale attorney who helped organized the visit.

Among the roughly 80 guests was Janet Reno -- just hours before she conceded defeat to Bill McBride in the Democratic primary for governor -- as well as U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch of Pembroke Pines, U.S. Rep. Jim Davis of Tampa, Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth, Broward Democratic Party Chairman Mitch Ceasar, and Richard Swann, McBride's finance chairman.

Gore later headed to the Pinecrest home of fundraising powerhouse Chris Korge to help raise money for Arkansas Attorney General Mark Pryor, the Democratic hopeful for the U.S. senate.

Expect more Gore sightings as the November elections draw closer: He said he plans on a few more visits to help out McBride. ``I'll be campaigning in Florida again.''

-- Anonymous, September 18, 2002

Answers

Blaming Jeb Bush for the voting screwups which were obviously the fault of county Democrats is so shameless and stupid that I am stunned. I wonder if McBride will have that much contempt for the voters' intelligence.

-- Anonymous, September 18, 2002

McBride goes on and on about how this and that are bad and Jeb's fault. but, he doesn't come out with any details of his plans to fix this and that, and anyone with a brain knows that his 'plans' will raise taxes.

He also hasn't cleared up the alleged misunderstandings about his now defunct law firm in Tampa. Have you heard? He froze salary and health benefits for the support staff so that the partners would see a 50,000.00 increase in profits each. then he left and the firm folded, and those support staff that didn't lose their jobs from the cuts lost their jobs and benefits when the firm closed.

I suspect that McBride plans something similar for the teaching profession, and his campaign claims to have the support of the teacher's union.

I just love the Bush campaign TV ad that shows McBride's alleged feet in dress shoes doing a tap dance while the voiceover talks about the law firm. LOL

Ain't campaign ads funny?

McBride, for his side, blames everything on Jeb, when we all know that Jeb is hampered by the state house of reps. The governor can propose whatever he wants, but the state legislature can shoot it down. Much like the federal government works. Amazing that people can forget this stuff.

-- Anonymous, September 19, 2002