Bill Bradley gets convention spotlight tonight
Defeated in primaries, he mulls his political future
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Former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bill Bradley spoke to CNN Monday about Al Gore
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Background:
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Former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley, a featured speaker at the 2000 Democratic National Convention, was Vice President Al Gore's only major challenger for the Democratic presidential nomination this year. Despite only a narrow loss in the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary and winning more than 400 convention delegates, Bradley dropped from the race in March. He endorsed Gore in a joint Wisconsin appearance in July.
A native of Missouri, Bradley was a basketball star at Princeton University and for the National Basketball Association-champion New
York Knicks before his election in New Jersey in 1978 to the first of
three terms in the Senate. After an 18-year Senate career -- the highlight of which was his successful drive for the 1986 tax-reform bill -- he retired in 1996.
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LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Bill Bradley, who challenged Al Gore in the primaries and lost, will back the party's choice tonight during an address to the Democratic National Convention. But the former New Jersey senator still wishes he were the one being nominated for president.
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Former Sen. Bill Bradley says "Al Gore clearly has the vision... it's a much better vision than that of George W. Bush"
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"In all honesty, I'd rather be speaking on Thursday night," Bradley told CNN, referring to the final night of the Los Angeles convention, when Gore will be making his acceptance speech.
While Bradley wouldn't reveal specifics of his speech endorsing Gore, he said Monday that "it will be very strong."
"I'll be laying out what I think are important things for this country to do in these times of unprecedented prosperity. And I'll have a special message for young people in the country," Bradley said.
As he sees it, the November contest between Gore and Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush presents a clear choice for voters.
"There are issues such as what are we going to do with this enormous (budget) surplus that we have. I think Al Gore clearly has the vision of what to do with that. It's a much better vision than that of George W. Bush," Bradley said.
"I believe that he (Gore) needs to reach out to people and let them get to know him. But I think, ultimately, people are going to decide on who they think is going to be the person they can trust with their life and their job and think that by the end of this campaign, it will be clear that it's Al Gore,' he said.
In the months to come, Bradley said he would be campaigning for Gore and other Democratic candidates.
As for his own political future, the former senator said he's not thinking about another presidential bid of his own -- at least not right away. "My intention is to move into the private sector," he said, without offering details.
Bradley added: "I'm actually following the advice that Tom Dewey (who lost the 1948 presidential election to Harry Truman) gave Richard Nixon in 1960 (the year Nixon lost the presidential election to John Kennedy). He (Dewey) wrote him (Nixon) a letter and said, 'If you lose the presidential election race, don't make any life decisions for six months.'"
On Monday, Bradley released his convention delegates to support Gore on Wednesday's nominating roll call. "We have to win in the fall," Bradley told supporters.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Tuesday, August 15, 2000
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