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Posted on 10/30/2001 12:31:46 AM PST by JohnHuang2

Gore back on the trail, quietly, but says he's `not decided' about '04

BY STEVEN THOMMA
Herald Washington Bureau

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire -- Driving a rental car through the hamlets of New Hampshire, Al Gore is a man alone.

Gone are the limousine, the phalanx of Secret Service agents clearing his path and Air Force Two to whisk him around the country. The 51 million votes that he received for president only a year ago are a distant memory.

Key operatives who helped him run for president in 2000 are debating whether to back other Democrats in 2004.

Yet Gore is back on the trail, running a stealth campaign to seek support under the radar of the national media. Before speaking on a recent Saturday night to the New Hampshire Democratic Party, Gore arrived in the state almost a week early to drive around by himself. He drops in unannounced on old friends and hunts for new ones.

As he rolled into the town of Hampton, Gore dialed his cellphone and called Beverly Hollingworth, a state senator and past supporter. ``I'm driving right through,'' he told her. ``Can we have a cup of coffee?''

SMALL TALK

Dressed in khaki slacks and an open-collar shirt, the man who won more votes for president than anyone except Ronald Reagan -- only to lose the election in the Electoral College -- walked unceremoniously into Lamie's Tavern to meet Hollingworth.

They talked about grandchildren and politics for nearly two hours. He frequently was interrupted -- by clerks who wanted a picture, by local firefighters who heard he was there, by an elderly woman from Pennsylvania who said she loved him and wanted to know whether he would run again.

``He just smiled,'' Hollingworth said.

Gore didn't say whether he will run, and he didn't ask Hollingworth to help him again -- yet. She would have declined anyway, saying she is keeping an open mind about which Democrat to support.

Gore, at the fundraiser, did not say if he would run again in 2004, despite the prodding of 500 guests, some of whom chanted ``Gore in four!''

``I'm not gonna respond to that, but I appreciate the encouragement,'' Gore said. ``I have not decided what I am going to do in the future.''

New Hampshire traditionally makes or breaks presidential candidates because it holds the first primary election of each campaign.

It was here that Gore fought off a challenge from Bill Bradley for the Democratic nomination last year. And it is here, among other places, that he is working to rebuild a once-golden political career that admirers thought was destined to end with the presidency.

``He's working to reestablish contacts and connections with supporters and old friends. And he has to reach out to new supporters,'' said former aide Chris Lehane, now a political consultant in California.

``He recognizes the situation, that no one is going to hand him the nomination, that he would have to go out to work for it and earn it.''

OTHER CANDIDATES

Gore also is facing stiff competition.

Although he is the best-known Democrat, he already might be behind as his rivals line up contributors, consultants and county chairs.

Among those signaling that they might run: House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri and Sens. Joseph Biden of Delaware, John Edwards of North Carolina, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, Gore's running mate last year.

``The political machinery is already ahead of him,'' said a veteran Democratic strategist who spoke on condition of anonymity.

``Edwards and Lieberman are outpacing him on working state party networks. Kerry is out-organizing him in New Hampshire. Gephardt is out-organizing him in Iowa.''

More broadly, the strategist said Gore's refusal to comment publicly for months on election reform efforts hurt him among blacks who believe that their civil rights were trampled in the Florida election debacle.

Gore also faces challenges in courting the contributors and consultants whom he would need to fight for the nomination.

``His relations with donors are being repaired, but he suffered some body blows in New York that he will not recover from,'' the Democratic strategist said. ``New York money people think he didn't run a good campaign.''

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