After four months of silence, the former Democratic presidential candidate, Mr Bill Bradley, has at last endorsed his rival, Vice-President Al Gore.
Appearing with Mr Gore on a platform in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Mr Bradley told an open-air meeting: "Today I want to make it clear - I endorse Al Gore for President of the United States."
He said that "our party is strongest when we are unified, when we speak with one voice". The endorsement came after four months of disappearance from the public scene by Mr Bradley since he withdrew from the contest for the Democratic nomination on March 9th last.
His withdrawal followed a series of humiliating defeats by Mr Gore in the primary elections. The former senator from New Jersey did not win even one primary although he had once been well ahead of Mr Gore in polls among Democratic voters.
Their campaigns in the primaries had been marked by frequent sharp exchanges as Mr Bradley barely concealed his contempt for his rival whom he accused of distorting his position on issues such as reform of social security. In one debate, Mr Bradley asked how could voters trust Mr Gore to tell the truth. Mr Gore for his part used Mr Bradley's voting record as a senator on various issues to embarrass him.
But yesterday, friendly relations were restored as Mr Gore called Mr Bradley a leader "who brought high purpose and high ideals to our contest". He called his former rival "a good Democrat who speaks and stands for principles we all believe in". Mr Gore said he had listened very carefully to Mr Bradley's discussion of the issues in their primary contest and was now trying to carry forward his ideas on campaign finance reform and child poverty.
However, the Republican campaign released a list of "greatest hits" by Mr Bradley during his primary campaign including one where he called Mr Gore "the elephant of negative campaigning". With Mr Bradley now safely aboard, Mr Gore will be hoping for a lift to his presidential campaign in which he is behind the Republican candidate, the Governor of Texas, Mr George Bush, in most polls. Mr Bradley had appealed mainly to the liberal wing of the Democrats who were unhappy with the centrist policies of the Clinton administration. Mr Bradley will now be given a prime-time speaking slot at the Democratic national convention in Los Angeles next month at which he will release his 300 delegates to support Mr Gore.
There seems little chance that Mr Gore will choose Mr Bradley as his running mate for the election on November 7th. The fact that Mr Bradley could not win even one state in the Democratic primaries is a negative factor for him. In spite of yesterday's endorsement, relations between the two men are not warm. It has been noted that Mr Gore did not invite any of Mr Bradley's senior aides to join his campaign.
Thomas Ferraro reports from Washington:
Mr Gore, now hoping to blunt his opponent's momentum, may announce his vice-presidential choice immediately after the Republican National Convention, campaign sources said yesterday.
The announcement, timed to draw attention away from Mr Bush, would come the day after Republicans wrap up their Philadelphia convention on August 3rd by nominating Mr Bush as their presidential candidate. Democrats begin their convention in Los Angeles 11 days later at which the Vice-President will formally receive the presidential nomination.
Asked about the idea of naming a running mate the day after the Republican convention ends, a Gore campaign official said: "It is being considered but it would be wrong to say the decision has been made to do so."
Presidential candidates traditionally enjoy a bump in public opinion polls following the burst of publicity around their convention. The Gore plan would be aimed to puncture Mr Bush's bounce.
"Sounds like I've got him worried," Mr Bush told reporters aboard his campaign aircraft, reacting to the report which first appeared in USA Today.
"If he's doing things based on what I'm doing, that's a pretty good sign, isn't it?" the governor of Texas said.
Mr Gore is still said to be considering a fairly lengthy list of potential running mates, including Senator Bob Graham of Florida, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the former Treasury Secretary, Mr Robert Rubin, the Governor of North Carolina, Mr Jim Hunt, and the former Senate majority leader and Northern Ireland peace negotiator, Senator George Mitchell of Maine.
Mr Bush has consistently led Mr Gore in polls by a margin that has fluctuated between five and 13 percentage points. But state polls recently have shown Mr Bush doing well in what should be solid Democratic states such as Minnesota and California.