Bradley pulls out: Terrific message, flawed candidate

I'm going to miss Bill Bradley. <br><br>And you'd know why if you watched TV yesterday and saw the former New Jersey senator, clobbered by Al Gore on Super Tuesday, end his quest for the Democratic

Friday, March 10th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

I'm going to miss Bill Bradley.

And you'd know why if you watched TV yesterday and saw the former New Jersey senator, clobbered by Al Gore on Super Tuesday, end his quest for the Democratic presidential nod with more grace than most politicians would bring to the task. More important, he issued a strong call for pols to ``listen more closely to the voices that are not usually heard,'' and to make sure no one is left behind.

Bradley declared:

``A president is president of all the people, wealthy as well as poor. But a president must listen more closely because the voices of those who have been less fortunate are not as loud and insistent as those who have been more fortunate.''

Perhaps you noticed, over his shoulder, a photo of a black kid. Bradley made race a central theme of his campaign.

His Rhode Island chairman, Jack McConnell, asked me later, ``When is the last time a national campaign talked about race relations?''

I fear we may have just seen it. I doubt you'll hear much about it in coming months from Vice President Gore or Texas Gov. George W. Bush. Gore may whack Bush for, say, speaking at Bob Jones University. But let's see if either man offers thoughtful proposals for bridging the black-white divide.

In recent weeks, in person or on TV, I often heard Bradley cry out for an elimination of child poverty and tell a story a teacher told him, of a youngster who came to school without having had breakfast and, when asked about it, said, ``It wasn't my turn to eat today.''

He sought stiff gun control legislation, stronger than what Gore or Bush would have, and reminded us that 13 American youngsters a day are killed by a gun -- in essence, he'd say, a Columbine daily.

He spoke of the need for broad access to health insurance, more ambitious than what Gore was proposing. Gore ridiculed Bradley's program as too expensive -- this from a man who was VP in an administration that proposed something even more ambitious. As for Bush, let me know if you ever hear him emphasize a need for a national health insurance program.

Bradley's campaign was filled with shortcomings -- some strategic, such as lavishing resources on Iowa instead of concentrating on more promising New Hampshire.

The surge in Arizona Sen. John McCain's popularity strangled him.

Bradley could be maddeningly unemotional, lacking passion, uninterested or unable to connect with voters, shying from razzle dazzle and -- important -- slow to respond to Gore's attacks and ineffective at launching his own.

There are no complaints from this corner about the former basketball star. Over the years, crossing paths episodically, he has been accessible, insightful, and friendly, even a trifle goofy, although it is understandable when people say he's distant. One day he gave me an interview on his campaign bus, but otherwise read most of the time.

Joe Paolino, chairman of Gore's Rhode Island campaign, told me, ``There was never a rationale for Senator Bradley to run.'' Issue differences between Gore and Bradley weren't that significant, Paolino said, and this has been such a successful administration. Certainly, with the economy booming, an insurgent would have trouble upending the fill-in for the incumbent.

Bradley's lack of killer instinct, a reluctance to hammer full throttle at the Clinton-Gore fundraising scandals, made his problem worse.

Some say Bradley lacked the fierce appetite needed for success in presidential politics. It seems to be true, and that's a sad commentary. It is unsettling that so many pols are so obsessive. I saw something attractive about a man enough at ease with himself to reject much of the usual pandering, whining, and mud slinging.

Jack McConnell said his eyes began to fill as he watched Bradley's news conference yesterday. ``He is a class act,'' McConnell said.

I shy from calling any politician classy. They all have their angles; they're all apt to disappoint us. But Bradley is definitely a cut above average, and it's too bad his campaign had to end so early.

M. Charles Bakst, The Journal's political columnist, can be reached by E-mail at mbakst@projo.com