Gore Hits at Big Drug Companies

BRIDGEVILLE, Pa. — Vice President Al Gore reached out to female voters on Friday, continuing his attacks on big drug companies and charging that “price-gouging” and industry efforts to extend patents on expensive medications disproportionately hurt women.

In a speech at a Pittsburgh-area senior center, the presumed Democratic presidential nominee stuck with the theme of the week, casting himself once again as a “champion” of the people.

Gore has contrasted his positions with those of his Republican rival, saying Texas Gov. George W. Bush is “for the powerful” and tied directly to big industries the vice president says put their own interests before those of the American people.

But Gore, at a news conference after the campaign stop, deferred questions about a top advisor’s ties to the same organization he called a “phony coalition” earlier in the week. The group, Citizens for Better Medicare, has spent millions of dollars on advertisements trying to scuttle the addition of a prescription drug benefit to Medicare.

Gore dismissed questions about a published report that Carter Eskew, then in private public relations, had earlier solicited the tax-exempt committee’s business. “What he did before he worked for me, that’s something you’ll have to ask him,” Gore said. The “important fact” about his own record, the vice president said, was that he has been unwavering in his criticism of drug company profits.

Gore focused on women’s health in a talk to seniors, saying basic health coverage for women needs to be more affordable. He said he was against efforts by drug companies to get Congress to extend patents on expensive medications. Such an extension would prevent generic--and cheaper--versions of drugs from reaching the market.

At the news conference, he was asked about his stance on a federal moratorium on the death penalty, in light of the Clinton administration’s decision this week to delay the first scheduled federal execution in nearly 40 years. The White House cited the absence of clemency procedures and the questions about racial disparities in putting off the planned Aug. 5 execution of convicted triple murderer Juan Raul Garza.

The vice president said he shares President Clinton’s concerns and supports the delay. Still, he said he sees no evidence a federal moratorium, similar to the state one in place in Illinois, is warranted.

However, Gore said that if prosecutorial misconduct could be shown, as was the case in Illinois, he “would not hesitate” to support a moratorium.

The reception Gore received Friday was similar to warm, and often enthusiastic, welcomes he won all week as he campaigned from coast to coast. And Gore appeared invigorated as a result.

The vice president, a man often criticized for being awkward in public, seemed at ease. Stumping for votes in front of core supporters, the speeches flowed well, prompting laughter, cheers, ovations and loud shouts of approval.

At the annual convention of the National Council of La Raza in San Diego, council leaders reminded the crowd that Gore was “no stranger” to their community. Bush, on the other hand, was dismissed as a “Georgie come lately” by California’s Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante.

In Cincinnati at the quadrennial meeting of African Methodist Episcopal congregations, church leaders reminded the thousands gathered of the Clinton-Gore record of economic prosperity. They also reminded the crowd of how African Americans had fared under the Republicans.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m not a victim of amnesia,” preached Bishop H.H. Brookins. “How in the world could you be thinking about someone else? There is no choice.”

With charts and graphs as accessories, Gore on Thursday was in his element talking to seniors in Chicago. He flipped over the poster board himself in order to emphasize the differences between his positions and those of his Republican opponent.

Gore seized the occasion to swing hard at Bush after weeks of backing away from negative comments. To ensure his point wasn’t lost, Gore spelled it out for those listening time and again: He is for the people. Bush is for the powerful.

And the populist rhetoric was embraced by enthusiastic crowds at national conventions for the nation’s two largest teachers unions: the National Education Assn. in Chicago and the American Federation of Teachers in Philadelphia. Gore told both groups about his deep family roots in education, noting that his father was a school superintendent.

He shook hands and danced to the music as a crush of union delegates pushed forward to meet him at both events.

In an interview with a Philadelphia television station, Gore even exhibited the wry humor his friends and family are always touting.

The one thing about his public persona he would change?

After a long pause, the answer: “I think I would like to be a better dancer.”