Gore Backs Kaiser Workers Democrat Winds Up A Day’S Work With Labor Message In Spokane

Vice President Al Gore drew applause after virtually every line of his speech from 1,200 fervent Democrats at the International Ag Trade Center Friday, but the cheers were the loudest when he announced his support for locked out Kaiser Steelworkers.

“To my brothers and sisters on strike at Kaiser Aluminum, I stand with you,” Gore thundered. “We stand with you.”

Gore arrived in Spokane looking tired but triumphant after a tour of Washington that took him first to the Tri-Cities then to Seattle before an evening flight to Eastern Washington.

The evening had a distinctly Washington character, as Rep. Jay Inslee of Bainbridge Island introduced Gore in front of a panoply of state Democratic heavyweights, including Gov. Gary Locke, King County Executive Ron Sims and Attorney General Christine Gregoire.

“I think it’s about time we had a president of the United States who has climbed Mount Rainier,” Inslee said.

The vice president had no new announcements for the delegates at the State Democratic Convention, but they didn’t seem to care as he ticked off a list of initiatives he would bring to a Gore White House.

Those included a $1-an-hour raise in the minimum wage, setting aside the national surplus for Social Security and Medicare and reforming labor laws to help unions organize.

Gore said he would push for campaign reform while acknowledging his own fund-raising lapses of four years ago.

“We have to reclaim our democracy for the American people,” he said. “I may be an imperfect messenger but I’ll fight like hell to get it done.”

He also repeated his vow of earlier in the day to find Gore in a solution for the endangered Snake River salmon without ruining the economies that depend on the river’s dams.

“Extinction is not an option. Economic destruction is not an option,” he said. “You stick with me and we’ll find a solution.”

While few in the audience were surprised by any of Gore’s announcements, his aggressive support of labor was welcome to delegates like Willette Rowe from Tumwater.

“Standing with the unions, how strong he was on that,” Rowe said. “That made me stand up and take notice.”

Not everyone at the convention center Friday evening was as pleased with the vice president, however.

Protest groups lined up early along Spokane Falls Boulevard as parents and students filed into the Opera House for the graduations of Lewis and Clark and Shadle Park high schools.

Members of Youth for Political and Social Change showed up with signs endorsing Ralph Nader for president. “Gore’s no environmentalist,” one said. “Gore’s no liberal.”

Members of Heart of America Northwest took up the corner at Washington Street and Spokane Falls Boulevard. Many signs addressed their messages to Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, who will speak at the convention today. Several protesters said they would attend Friday night’s Democratic dinner and hoped to get their message to Gov. Locke and to Gore.

Hanford should be cleaned up, said Julian Powers, a member of Heart of America Northwest. Instead, Richardson has increased waste imports to Hanford and is considering restarting the Fast Flux Test Facility, Powers said.

A newly formed group in Spokane, People for Environmental Action and Children’s Health, waged a valiant wait for Gore, standing in front of the convention center with signs for about three and half hours. But when the vice president’s motorcade arrived, it turned into a back lot behind the building, bypassing the front all together.

But while there were serious policy disagreements outside the convention center, inside the Democrats were united in their resolve for strong showings in November.

Much of the evening was devoted to plugging candidates in races across Washington and to bashing Republican opponents.

Gregoire reminded the delegates of Rep. George Nethercutt’s term limits promise when she introduced 5th District candidates Tom Flynn and Tom Keefe.

“He promised us term limits,” Gregoire said. “We’re going to give him term limits.”

Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the presumptive Republican nominee, was a favorite target.

“We need a president that will guarantee us that the clean air of Seattle won’t be replaced by the dirty air of Houston, Texas,” said Inslee. “Read my lips: No new Texans.”

Even Gore got into the act, making a reference Bush’s ties to the National Rifle Association and its president, actor Charlton Heston, best known for his role in the “Ten Commandments.”

“The last time Moses listened to a Bush, his people wandered in the wilderness for 40 years,” he said.

Staff writer Carol MacPherson contributed to this report.