Tipper Gore makes Oklahoma campaign stop

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- Tipper Gore's warmest greetings Tuesday went to a group of Oklahomans who won't be able to vote for another 14 years but who served as a perfect backdrop to push her husband's

Wednesday, February 9th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- Tipper Gore's warmest greetings Tuesday went to a group of Oklahomans who won't be able to vote for another 14 years but who served as a perfect backdrop to push her husband's presidential campaign platform. Mrs. Gore talked up Vice President Al Gore's education proposal sat a Tulsa child care center that caters to working families. "My husband has made education the centerpiece of his campaign, as well as health care," she said. "We think that if you can give every family, every child, a healthy start with health care and the very best educational system possible, then we are doing our best to strengthen families and communities and therefore keep our nation strong ..."

Mrs. Gore smiled broadly as she entered a classroom adorned with pink papier-mache pigs, a bright alphabet rug and more than a dozen noisy 4-year-olds. One boy continued to play by himself as she walked into the room accompanied by fellow Democrats, Tulsa Mayor Susan Savage and Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson.

A little girl perched in Mrs. Gore's lap and other children clustered around her as they launched into a song practiced for the campaign stop. Mrs. Gore later posed for a photograph with the squirming children, who shouted the word "money" as their teacher snapped the shutter.

Mrs. Gore planned a later stop at the home of Tulsa supporters to thank them for just that and urge continued support with the Oklahoma primary still ahead. She stressed her husband's proposals for affordable preschool for all children, higher teacher pay and salary bonuses for public school teachers who meet certain standards in poor and rural areas.

Mrs. Gore also pushed the vice president's proposal for a tax-free savings plan for college tuition. "For example, if you have a child born today and you put $10 a week away, by the time that child was ready to go to college you would have $28,000 saved that you could apply to their college tax-free," Mrs. Gore said. The visit came at the Audubon Child Development Center, which offers care for children from 6 weeks to 12 years in a partnership with the public school system.

Angie Cox, who works at the center, said she typically doesn't pay attention to politics and hadn't decided which presidential candidate will get her vote. Mrs. Gore might have had trouble getting the message out to the children, she said. "At their age, they knew we were going to sing a song and that's about all," Cox said.