Portland-Vice President Al Gore became the first major presidential candidate to visit Oregon this election year, giving a ninety-minute speech Friday afternoon at the Portland Community College Sylvania campus.
Gore outlined his strategy to shore up Social Security, while also discussing plans to make higher education more affordable and vowing to protect Oregon’s salmon runs.
Before an audience of more than 250 students, educators, Gore supporters and a “who’s who” gathering of Oregon Democrats – including Gov. John Kitzhaber; Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon; Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Portland; and Rep. David Wu, D-Portland – Gore called Social Security a “solemn compact” between America and its elderly citizens and said he would preserve it if elected.
“Our deepest obligation to one another is a commitment to make sure that no one is forced to live in poverty after a lifetime of hard work,” Gore said. “No one should be faced with financial ruin because of a serious disability, no one should be faced with devastation, financially, when a spouse dies.”
Gore said he would balance America’s budget and pay back government loans, allowing the Federal government to funnel money, otherwise reserved to pay interest on loans, into Social Security, a program that will be strained when the baby boom generation reaches retiring age. Gore criticized the Republican plan to privatize Social Security, saying it would leave the program vulnerable to market fluctuations and that taxpayers would have to bail it out in a severe bear market.
Gore campaign spokesman David Chai said Gore’s visit was intended to boost voter turnout for the primary election and garner support for the Democrat in the November general election, in which Texas Gov. George Bush is expected to be the Republican candidate. Though Gore supporters expect little opposition in Oregon’s May 16 primary election, polls show Oregonians are split nearly 50-50 between Gore and Bush.
Oregon, which has voted for Democratic presidential candidates in the past three elections, is an important state for Gore because of its focus on issues Gore has been outspoken about, including the environment, education and services for working families, Chai said.
Bush is tentatively scheduled to visit Portland May 16.
At Friday’s invitation-only gathering, Gore opened the floor to questions after outlining his Social Security plan. While most questions addressed health care, University ASUO President elect Jay Breslow asked Gore if he plans to increase public funding for higher education to make universities less reliant on private contributions, which, Breslow said, are used by donors to gain influence in a university’s decision-making processes.
Breslow illustrated his question by saying the University was deeply affected when Phil Knight curtailed future philanthropic contributions to the campus in response to the University’s decision to join the Worker Rights Consortium.
Gore responded by reiterating his commitment to improving education and expressing concern about medical researchers keeping breakthroughs secret to maximize profits.
“Education is my number on priority for investing in the future,” he said. “We live in an information age and learning is far more important than it’s ever been an any previous periods and it’s getting more and more important all the time.”
Though Breslow said he didn’t believe Gore dodged the question, he did say Gore gave “a political answer.” Breslow said he was hoping Gore would directly voice support for directing more federal dollars into higher education.
Gore also described his tuition savings plan, which would allow parents to save money for their children’s education in tax-free savings accounts that would be shielded from inflation, and pointed out his past support of Pell Grants, Hope Scholarships and student loans.
“While I’m a strong supporter of the student loan program, I think we’ve allowed ourselves to rely a little too heavily on loans rather than a mix of grants and loans,” he said, adding that students often graduate so deep in debt that they have “a home mortgage without a home, basically.”
Breslow criticized Gore’s proposed tuition savings plan and said it wouldn’t help families with low incomes.
“I would have rather heard someone talking about Pell Grants and need-based scholarships,” Breslow said. “He needs to make education affordable if he wants a viable workforce to pay into his Social Security plan.”
Before his speech, Gore met privately with Wyden and Kitzhaber to discuss the issues surrounding dams along the Snake and Columbia River systems. Kitzhaber, who advocates breaching several of the dams to allow salmon to freely spawn through the rivers, has been critical of Gore for not taking a stance on the issue.
At the beginning of his address, however, Gore announced that he would develop a plan to protect the river and restore salmon runs, though he didn’t say whether he supported breaching dams.
“I pledge to work toward a quick resolution that will involve all of the effected parties, based on hard science,” he said. “Extinction, here, is not an option.”
Kitzhaber, who only months before endorsed former New York senator Bill Bradley during early primary elections, emerged from the event saying he fully endorsed Gore.
“He will be a leader in environmental issues … and will look after Northwest economies,” Kitzhaber said.
Wyden also expressed support for Gore after the meeting.
“What Al Gore demonstrated in the last hour-and-a-half is that he understands what this state is all about,” he said.