Gore rally held at Federal Building

  JESSE PORTER/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Kristin
Gore, Gov. Gray Davis and a group of prominent L.A.
Democrats speak at a rally in front of the Federal Building.

By Michael Falcone and Timothy
Kudo
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Under rainy, windy and gray skies, Gov. Gray Davis stood under a
faltering tarp in front of the Federal Building on Sunday speaking
in political metaphors about voting and horsemanship.

Davis urged the crowd of about 100 to stick with the party that
brought Californians the “best economy the world has ever
known.”

“If you have to change horses crossing in the stream, make
sure you get on one that’s going in the same
direction,” Davis said.

Flanked by State Sen. Richard Alarcón, D-San Fernando
Valley, L.A. District Attorney Gil Garcetti and Vice President Al
Gore’s daughter Kristin, Davis and the cadre of Democrats
were making a “final push” before the Nov. 7
election.

With her father’s lead in California ““ a state
long-known as a Democratic stronghold ““ slipping due to the
rise of Green Party candidate Ralph Nader, an increase in undecided
voters and the efforts of the Bush campaign, Kristin asked the
crowd to trust her dad with their votes.

“I know that great dads don’t necessarily make great
presidents, but in this case they do,” Kristin said. “I
trust him with my life and my future, and I am just asking you to
trust him with your vote.”

Sunday’s rally was the first in a string of
Democrat-sponsored events throughout the week counting down to
election day. Former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna
Shalala, Secretary of Commerce Norm Mineta and President Clinton
will all make stops in California to campaign for the vice
president.

Though the vice president was not scheduled to be in California
before the elections, he will fly to the state on Tuesday and
appear at a rally in Westwood.

Gore will follow in the footsteps of Texas Gov. George W. Bush,
who is making campaign stops in the Southland today.

The speakers at Sunday’s rally highlighted many of the
issues that the vice president is likely to discuss when he comes
to Westwood.

Topics discussed were general issues like the environment,
economy, supreme court appointments, vouchers and campaign finance
reform.

A respectful but decidedly anti-Nader sentiment was pervasive
among those who took the podium Sunday.

Fran Pavely, a former middle school history teacher and a
candidate for State Assembly in the 41st District, said at the
rally that concerns over Supreme Court appointments are prompting
her daughter to support the Gore/Lieberman ticket.

“My daughter is a member of the Green Party,” Pavely
said. “My daughter told me two weeks ago ““
“˜I’m voting for Al Gore and Joe
Lieberman.'”

Kristin, a 23-year-old recent college graduate, said Nader
supporters are “smart, passionate and committed,” but
that her father was the clear choice in this year’s
election.

Passing cars honked at volunteers holding Gore/Lieberman and
“No on 38″ signs and the crowd tried to stay warm and
dry without the flaccid cover provided to the politicians
onstage.

Sunday was also the time to further endear the politicians to
the Democratic voters zealous enough to brave inclement weather to
attend the rally.

“This election is very important to me because I’m
Al Gore’s charisma adviser and I have a lot at stake in this
election,” said Davis in a moment of levity.

But for the vice president, who is currently trailing Bush by 7
percentage points according to the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup
poll, the next week will a time of serious campaigning.

In an interview after the rally, Kristin asked college-age
voters in particular to turn out in favor of her father.

“As the future generation, we have the most to win or
lose,” Kristin said. “In an election this close,
it’s not the year for apathy.”