WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Vice President Al Gore asked Democratic leaders Saturday to "stand with me" as he seeks to be elected president next year, maintain a strong economy and lead the nation into the 21st century.
"We have the capacity to create an America in the next century with zero poverty and zero joblessness and zero hopelessness," Gore told the Democratic National Committee."I ask you to stand with me," he added, as the gathering of about 350 DNC members, many of them waving red-white-and-blue Gore campaign placards, erupted into applause.
Gore's only announced challenger for the 2000 Democratic presidential nomination, former Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey, did not attend the three-day DNC meeting.
Instead, Bradley sent his wife, Ernestine, to represent him at the gathering of state and national party leaders, conferring with many of them earlier Saturday, DNC officials said.
Despite Gore's campaign-style address, the DNC will remain neutral in the party's presidential nominating process, seeking only to ensure an open and fair contest, said Joe Andrew, elected by acclamation Saturday as President Clinton's choice to serve as the DNC's national chair.
Polls show Gore leading Bradley by a two-to-one margin but trailing the two early Republican front-runners, Texas Gov. George W. Bush and former Labor and Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole.
Gore is pinning much of his presidential hopes on the robust economy, which he and Clinton credit to their fiscal policies, which included helping balance the federal budget for the first time in a generation.
The vice president pledged Saturday that, if elected to succeed Clinton, he would safeguard the economy from potentially harmful Republican initiatives, such as what he called risky tax schemes.
"My first priority for the 21st century is a strong economy with good jobs for all of our of people," Gore said. "Let's not slow down the economy."
"Stand with me and we will balance the budget not just in the next two years but every year," he said. "Keep interest rates low. Create more jobs."