Gore Calls for Compassion in Military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Policy on Gays : Politics: Vice president says that he does not believe the rules are working properly. Issue remains controversial among presidential rivals.

WASHINGTON —  Vice President Al Gore, wading into an issue that bedeviled the Clinton administration’s first year in office, says he wants a more “compassionate” handling of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” rules governing homosexuals in the military.

In an interview in the current issue of the Advocate, a gay magazine published in Los Angeles, Gore says he doesn’t believe the rules “are working the way they were intended to work.” And he says he would “try to change that by working with military leaders to bring about an implementation strategy that’s fairer.”

Gore’s comments, made earlier this summer, continue his efforts to reach out to party interest groups as he seeks the Democratic presidential nomination. And gay activists--pointing to recent statistics that have shown the military is expelling more and more gays and lesbians--welcomed his remarks. But they added that his statements leave unclear precisely how Gore would alter existing practices.

Some analysts, recalling the firestorm of criticism that greeted the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, said the subject remains so controversial that Gore is taking a risk by bringing it to public attention again. “Even now, it’s such a can of worms,” said Stuart Rothenberg, a nonpartisan political analyst.

President Clinton--just eight days after his 1992 election victory--declared his commitment to lift the 48-year-old ban on homosexuals in the uniformed services. But it took 14 months of intense debate before the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was crafted, and the angry debate over it consumed the administration’s early months.

The policy was intended to safeguard the right of gays to serve in the military. It permits homosexuals to serve as long as they don’t discuss their sexual orientation; it also prohibits commanders from asking soldiers whether they are gay.

Gay activists, however, increasingly are concerned that commanders are not living up to their part of the bargain. For instance, last year 1,145 people were discharged from the military for homosexuality, compared with 997 in 1997 and 617 in 1994.

Among those agreeing with Gore’s call for a more compassionate handling of the issue was Stacey Sobel, senior staff attorney for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a group that represents service members at risk because of the military’s rules. But she said what Gore would do as president remains unclear “because we’ve seen only limited statements.”

David Smith, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay and lesbian political group, said his organization was pleased by Gore’s comments. But he said he didn’t “see a great deal of daylight” between Gore’s position and that of the Pentagon itself.

On Aug. 13, the Pentagon released new policy guidelines on the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy intended to reduce harassment and unfair discharges of homosexual troops. The guidelines require that mid-level commanders seek permission from senior civilian officials in the Pentagon before opening certain types of investigations.

At the same time, the Pentagon has asserted that “for the most part, the policy has been properly applied.”

Chris Lehane, Gore’s press secretary, said Monday that the new guidelines were in keeping with the vice president’s desire for more “compassion” in handling the issue.

“He would like to work with the military to address concerns he has about implementation of the policy,” Lehane said.

With former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley--Gore’s sole challenger for the Democratic presidential nomination--criticizing him from the left, Gore has been trying to nail down liberal support, even while holding to many of the centrist themes that Clinton has emphasized.

That has led to a balancing act. On the one hand, Gore has stressed several positions unpopular on the left--such as promising to keep the federal budget in balance and to maintain work requirements on welfare recipients. On the other, he has moved beyond Clinton to identify with several priorities of key party constituencies.

For instance, Gore has promised to increase the emphasis on labor and environmental protections in future trade negotiations, and to take steps to improve the ability of unions to organize new members--both top priorities for organized labor.

Bradley’s campaign on Monday signaled that on the issue of gays in the military, he would stake out a position aggressively to Gore’s left. Bradley’s chief spokesman, Eric Hauser, said the former senator “has grave doubts about whether the policy can work,” and believes “we ought to be able to get to a time when gays can serve openly in the military.”

In 1993, Bradley opposed the “don’t ask, don’t tell” compromise as unworkable, and voted in the Senate to kill it.

The issue has yet to be widely debated among the Republican presidential contenders.

Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the front-runner for the GOP nomination, has said he wants to stick with the current policy, just as former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Colin L. Powell crafted it.

His more moderate foes, such as Elizabeth Hanford Dole and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), are not expected to focus on the matter. But Bush is likely to be challenged on the issue by several of his more conservative opponents--Patrick J. Buchanan, Gary Bauer and Alan Keyes all oppose allowing gays to serve in the military.

Meanwhile, on another controversial social issue, Gore’s office has been moving to clarify his position on teaching evolution.

The dispute began Thursday when Gore’s staff members were asked for a reaction to the recent decision by the Kansas state school board to drop virtually all mention of evolution from its statewide science curriculum and standardized tests. Gore is on vacation, but his press office--based on earlier discussions with him--responded that he personally supported the teaching of evolution, but also felt that “localities should be free to decide to teach creationism as well.”

Almost immediately, his office clarified that Gore would support the teaching of creationism only in a religious-studies class, not as science--an option the Supreme Court, in any instance, has already barred as an endorsement of religion.

But that statement still angered some scientists, as well as prominent Democratic activists and fund-raisers, who noted that it contained no direct criticism of Kansas’ decision to drop evolution from its curriculum.

“It was amazing that in 1999 a Democratic presidential candidate would be afraid to criticize a school board that took evolution out of the curriculum,” said a Democratic fund-raiser who called Gore’s campaign to complain about the remarks. “If this was a mistake, it was frustrating. If this was strategy, it was infuriating.”

Amid such criticism and confusion, Gore’s office further explained his position. On Sunday, Laura Quinn, Gore’s communications director, said the vice president flatly opposed the Kansas board’s decision.

“The vice president strongly believes creationism should not be taught as science and he believes what the Kansas school board did was a mistake,” she said.