Adviser says Gore may be in trouble in California

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Al Gore needs to change his campaign tactics and may have to advertise to win California, a Gore campaign adviser in the nation's most populous state said Tuesday.

Garry South, a strategist for Gore in California, criticized the Gore campaign's strategy on a number of fronts, among them the vice president's use of California primarily as a source of campaign cash.

The vice president has done too little to point out the Clinton administration's successes, and has failed to aggressively respond to accusations and TV ads from GOP nominee George W. Bush, he said.

''We're at a critical juncture here where there has to be some serious recalibrations with what we're doing, or we could be in trouble,'' South said, though he predicted a Gore victory.

''Californians are not yet onto the fact that there's a huge chasm between what George W. Bush is blabbering about and what he actually can prove up on,'' he said.

South, chief political adviser to Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, said in a speech to the Sacramento Press Club on Tuesday that the presidential race has tightened to ''single digits'' in California polls he has seen. Independent polls give Gore a lead ranging from 9 to 13 percentage points.

But South said an apparent narrowing of Gore's lead had sparked a growing internal debate about whether to advertise for the first time in California.

While Republicans are spending about $1.5 million a week promoting nominee Bush, the Democrats and Gore have spent nothing.

''I don't think there's unanimity on it, but I think there's a building sense that it's something we need to look at,'' South said.

Any Democratic advertising campaign would likely be modest, he said.

''I don't think it's likely there will be a lot spent in California,'' South said. ''When you look at the other battleground states, there's too much of a priority, particularly in the Midwest, to divert money into California.''

Indeed, if the Gore campaign did launch a serious ad campaign in California, it would drain precious resources from battleground states and change the dynamic of the race to Bush's benefit.

However, senior Gore advisers said Tuesday they have no plans to advertise in California, a state in which Democratic polling they've reviewed shows the vice president with a double-digit lead over Republican George W. Bush.

''Obviously it's an important state to us. Californians agree with Al Gore on most of the issues that count and that's why Al Gore is running strong in the state. And we have no plans to put ads on TV,'' said Gore spokesman Mark Fabiani.

One senior Gore adviser said the Democratic National Committee has had long-standing plans to air get-out-the-vote radio ads aimed at black and Hispanic voters, but an aggressive TV campaign is not in the cards.

Gore aides said it's not unusual for state operatives to demand more money be spent in their states because it would help their efforts below the presidential level - such as close House and Senate races. An infusion of Democratic Party or Gore money could help other candidates.

South blamed a number of factors for the fact that Bush leads in many national polls, among them the ''troubadour trips'' by more than two-dozen Republican governors who have fanned out to stump for him.

Davis' schedule for the next two weeks includes no such campaigning for Gore, despite South's promise in January that electing Gore would be Davis' ''number one political priority this year.''

South said Davis' schedule is ''subject to change.''

The Bush campaign, which has faced questions about whether it will fight for California, seized upon South's call for a Gore campaign ''recalibration.''

''How can you recalibrate what you're doing when you're not doing anything?'' said state Sen. Jim Brulte, R-Rancho Cucamonga, finance chairman for the state GOP.

''The question has now shifted - will Al Gore contest California?'' asked Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas, a co-chairman of Bush's campaign here.

Gore, he said, ''has come to California to raise money, and he's not following it up with a campaign. Many people thought we were going to do that.''

South agreed that Republicans have more aggressively campaigned throughout the state.

''The visits we got from Gore and (running mate Joe) Lieberman have been largely fund-raising trips, and those by necessity are bunched up in L.A. and in the bay area, San Francisco and San Jose,'' he said.