Gore Vows to Select V.P. Quietly

With the GOP ticket taking shape, Vice President Al Gore on Monday said he has narrowed his own search for a running mate and would probably announce his choice several days before the Democratic National Convention.

Gore was also critical of the public manner in which his rival, George W. Bush, has conducted his search for a running mate.

“I’ve handled my process differently than the Bush campaign has handled theirs,” Gore said. “I’ve kept it private, and I hope dignified, out of respect for the individuals, the men and women who are under consideration, and I am going to continue to approach it that way.”

Gore declined to comment further on how Bush went about making his apparent choice of Dick Cheney, the former Defense secretary.

Gore said he would meet today with former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who has been screening the contenders for him. Gore said he has met with some of his potential choices in person, but declined to say who or how many.

“I’m not trying to play games with you,” he told reporters on Air Force Two as he flew back to Washington from a campaign swing through the Midwest. “I’m just simply trying to keep the process quiet.

“I’ve been through it on the other end twice, and I know a little bit of what it’s like to go through the process and to be turned down,” he said. “And I know what it’s like to go through the process and being asked to join the ticket. So I want to be very respectful of the men and women that I am talking to and meeting with and actively considering.”

Gore said he expects to name his running mate “probably several days before” the Democratic National Convention begins on Aug. 14 in Los Angeles.

Potential contenders include House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.); Sens. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Bob Graham (D-Fla.) and John F. Kerry (D-Mass.); and former Sen. George J. Mitchell of Maine.

“I’m going to pick the person who I believe can become president on a moment’s notice if necessary, who also has a good working relationship with me, or the prospect of one, and who shares my values, someone who’s willing to fight for people and not the powerful,” Gore said.

Gore spoke after a day of campaigning in Michigan and Ohio, key battleground states where Gore touted his environmental record and courted union members. In Grand Rapids, Mich., he appeared at a riverfront park with leaders of the Sierra Club to accept the group’s endorsement.

“I know that the polluters and the special interests are coming after me, and I wear their attacks as a badge of honor,” Gore told a gathering of union members and Democratic Party activists at the park.

Sierra Club President Robert Cox told the group that Bush would “undo, undercut and weaken many of the environmental gains our nation has achieved.”

“We could face what the people of Texas are facing now,” he warned. “Air pollution, water pollution, toxic waste, record numbers of violations of our clean air and clean water standards, environmental laws unenforced and corporate polluters unchecked and out of control.”

Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett said the Texas governor had a solid record of fighting pollution and was proud of it.

In Cleveland, Gore greeted construction workers in hard hats at the downtown site where they’re building a federal courthouse.

Gore also met with a few dozen members of the United Steelworkers of America. He told them he would raise the minimum wage, fight for workplace safety protections and expand family medical-leave rights.