Pennsylvania hospital cancels Gore invite over abortion stance
June 14, 2000
Web posted at: 6:42 PM EDT (2242 GMT)
SCRANTON, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- Vice President Al Gore's support for abortion rights forced a quick change of venue for his "progress and prosperity" tour Wednesday as a Catholic hospital in Pennsylvania withdrew its invitation to the Democratic candidate.
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Vice President Al Gore was interview Wednesday on CNN
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"I'm here talking about the need for improvements in access to health care, the affordability of health care and quality of health care, and to give seniors a prescription drug benefit," Gore told CNN on Wednesday. "I do support a woman's right to choose, and I make no apologies for that."
Scranton's Roman Catholic bishop, James Timlin -- a member of the hospital board -- raised the issue of Gore's position on abortion rights and said it would be inappropriate for the Catholic hospital to host the vice president's event. Gore's campaign moved the event to another health care facility, pledging to protect Medicare funds, spend more on medical research and push for a prescription drug benefit for the elderly.
Texas Gov. George W. Bush, meanwhile, focused on planning for the upcoming Republican national convention during a third day at his family's summer home in Maine.
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 Vice President Al Gore is interviewed on CNN's Inside Politics. |
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Gore campaign officials and a spokesman at Mercy Hospital in Scranton said hospital officials notified the campaign Tuesday night that Gore could not hold the health care forum at the hospital on Wednesday afternoon as had been planned.
"We've done a number of events at similar institutions, and yet I certainly didn't want anyone to experience any discomfort," Gore told CNN during an exclusive interview. He said he did not want the issue to distract him from the message he was trying to deliver in Scranton.
Appearing instead at an area pharmacy, the vice president said he would press for adding prescription drug coverage to Medicare, the national health care system for the elderly -- a move President Bill Clinton has also called for in recent days.
"Right now there is a glaring omission in Medicare that hurts the quality, denies access and makes health care unaffordable for many of our most vulnerable," Gore said.
Gore's itinerary will take him on to Cincinnati on Thursday, part of a two-week excursion aimed at drawing the link for voters between the nation's unprecedented economic prosperity and the Clinton Administration's domestic policies.
Ridge, Gore trade volleys over economy
His stop in Pennsylvania drew a jab from Republican Gov. Tom Ridge, who is sometimes mentioned as a possible vice-presidential candidate. As several GOP leaders have done in recent days, Ridge portrayed Gore as taking undue credit for the state of the economy.
"What he needs to understand is that the turnaround in Pennsylvania has everything to do with the people in Pennsylvania, and not the people on Pennsylvania Avenue," Ridge said Wednesday.
Gore replied with a swipe at Republicans over the state of the economy during the last GOP administration.
"The American people deserve the credit for the good economy because they've been working very hard," Gore said. "But that's not the entire explanation. They were working hard back in 1991 when we had that deep recession."
The tour began Tuesday in New York, where he received a plug from former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin. Rubin said Gore had been deeply involved in every major economic decision the Clinton Administration has made in the past seven years.
Gore said he wants Medicare funding to be set aside in a trust fund much as Social Security funds are now handled. He also pledged to double cancer research funds and do more to attack diseases like Alzheimer's, diabetes, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis -- Lou Gehrig's Disease -- and HIV/AIDS.
He also criticized a Republican plan to rely on private insurers to provide drug coverage for seniors as a "placebo" that would not cover middle-class Medicare recipients who most need it and would not act to reduce drug prices.
Gore said new budget projections show the federal surplus will be even larger than predicted.
"Now is the time to build on that foundation and move forward, because in a very short period of time we're going to see a dramatic change in the economic picture," he said.
Bush huddles in Kennebunkport
The Texas governor spent a third day with advisers at his family's home in Kennebunkport, Maine, where talks focused on planning for the GOP national convention in Philadelphia at the end of July.
Bush's campaign communications director Karen Hughes said the campaign is planning to focus on a single theme each day during the four-day convention, with events centered around prime-time television hours.
Though the party's anti-abortion plank has been a divisive issue in years past, Hughes said the subject has not been discussed in recent days. Bush has "made clear" that he wants the current GOP position to remain in the Republican platform, she said.
The campaign wants to present Bush as a different kind of Republican, more centrist and inclusive. Hughes said the Bush camp wants former presidential rival Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) and retired Gen. Colin Powell, the former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and an abortion rights supporter, to have highly visible roles.
Hughes added that tributes will be paid to former GOP presidents during
the convention -- including the presumptive nominee's father, former President George Bush -- and that the elder Bush will participate as "both a former president and a proud father."
The meetings included no "substantive" discussions about vice-presidential candidates, Hughes said. But Bush did take a call from former Defense Secretary Richard Cheney, who is leading the governor's search for a running mate, during one of the meetings.
Hughes said she expected that, when the vice-presidential list narrows to
"finalists," Bush would meet with the possible choices, perhaps at his ranch
home in Crawford, Texas, or at the governor's mansion in Austin.
Billionaire's million-dollar challenge
With the number and format of presidential debates still under discussion for this campaign season, a New York financier threw his own offer on the table Wednesday: A cool million to charity if Bush and Gore agree to an hour-and-a-half debate on education.
Venture capitalist and philanthropist Ted Forstmann said Wednesday he was offering Gore and Bush $500,000 each for the children's charity of their choice if they agree to participate in a televised debate devoted to education. If only one candidate accepts, the deal is off.
"Political candidates seem to me to spend an awful lot of money raising
money for themselves," Forstmann told reporters. "So I'm giving these two in
just 90 minutes to raise money for others, to engage in a debate in the most
important challenge facing our country today and to do a good turn for
disadvantaged children as well."
Forstmann is the co-chairman and chief executive of the Children's Scholarship Fund, an organization that recently offered $50 million in partial scholarships to underprivileged children for the coming fall. He is a longtime critic of what he calls the public schools' monopoly over education.
"If you do not start with the point of the parent should be in charge of the education of the child rather than any other entity, I think you're going down the wrong path. And neither of these candidates so far has come to grips with that fundamental question."
Gore accepted Forstmann's proposal without reservation, but the Bush campaign declined, saying that the Texas governor would instead focus on the fall presidential debates.
"Governor Bush looks forward to debating Al Gore in the fall on
education," said Bush spokeswoman Mindy Tucker. "It's his top domestic
priority. And he also hopes that Ted Forstmann will continue to use his
resources to help children who are trapped in failed schools find alternative
places to receive an education."
Gore has a standing offer to his Republican rival to forego all television advertising in exchange for twice-weekly debates. Bush has rejected that idea, calling it a stunt.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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