Election briefs

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 28, 2000

Campaign turns dark as attacks heat up

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Al Gore and George W. Bush traded accusations of dirty politics Friday in a campaign tug-of-war stretching from West Virginia to Michigan.

The West Coast was in play, too, as the presidential contest spanned the country with a week and a half left before the election. Gore planned a late dash to California, which he had assumed was a certain win.

Most national polls late in the week gave Bush an edge, but the fight for electoral votes in closely contested states was intense.

The Gore camp decried a new GOP attack ad modeled after the "Daisy" commercial that President Johnson used in 1964. The ad -- showing a girl plucking daisy petals and counting down to a nuclear blast -- accuses President Clinton and Gore of trading nuclear technology to China for campaign contributions.

The sponsor of the ad pulled it late Friday night at the request of the Bush campaign after the commercial aired earlier in the day in several cities, including Lansing, Mich., Orlando, and Cleveland.

LIEBERMAN IN SENATE RACE: Joseph Lieberman refused to drop his Senate re-election bid by Friday's deadline. Lieberman has a large lead over Waterbury Mayor Philip Giordano, the Republican challenger, who called the decision "selfish."

W. COMING BACK: Underscoring Florida's importance in the presidential race, George W. Bush will make one more trip to the state before Election Day. The Texas governor will make his ninth campaign trip to Florida this year on Nov. 5, two days before the election. The location of the rally has not been determined but is expected to be in Central Florida.

Lazio-Clinton III

NEW YORK -- Rep. Rick Lazio, R-N.Y., didn't march into Hillary Rodham Clinton's personal space Friday afternoon. But he did get in her face verbally during the third and final debate of their Senate campaign, attacking her for much of the hour as an untrustworthy candidate and a public policy disaster.

The afternoon's oddest exchange came when the candidates were asked to name three things they liked about their opponent.

"He's got a nice family," Clinton said. "He's an attractive young man."

Lazio was then asked the same question. He said the first lady was "an attractive woman." "I'm sure she's a good mother," he said.

With a little more than a week to go in the campaign, Clinton has a slim lead in most polls.

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