If Vice President Al Gore is concerned about his image in the wake of the 1997 Democratic fund-raising case, it didn't show Tuesday in Kansas City.
Without ever mentioning the issue, much less the word "money," Gore swooped into town, spoke for 20 minutes on the Country Club Plaza and scooped up $200,000 for the Democratic National Committee."We're in a real struggle nationwide that will come to a head in November of this year when control of the Congress will be determined," Gore said at a $10,000-a-couple fund-raiser at the Plaza III Restaurant. "Nationwide, there will be a clash of ideas."
It was almost as if 1997 had never happened. The past year was a nightmare of news coverage for Gore and President Clinton, who were singed for a series of fund-raising practices, many involving high-dollar givers.
There were phone calls made from the White House. White House sleepovers. Buddhist monks testifying before a Senate investigating committee. Gore's plea of "no controlling legal authority." Coffee klatches. Mysterious foreign contributors.
Although Clinton seems little damaged by the furor, Gore's national stature as presidential timber - for now - has been seriously undermined, political experts say.
But both men are spending long hours on the money trail, ignoring the last election and trying to get ready for the next one.
"Just get used to it," White House press secretary Mike McCurry told reporters in December, referring to the nonstop fund raising by the White House.
The vice president's three-hour visit to Kansas City came as the Democratic National Committee struggles to erase deep debts that stemmed from the 1996 effort.
"We're faced with a debt of $9 million," Joe Carmichael, Missouri's Democratic chairman, said of the committee's financial status. "We've got to reduce that debt to be viable in the '98 races. It's a fact of political life."