(Des Moines, IA) One candidate wore the traditional uniform (dark suit, white shirt) as well as his spectacles, those little half-glasses which rest mid-nose, and he stood behind the lectern, waving his large hands to punctuate the anecdotes and complex sentences he softly delivered into the microphone.
The other candidate looked tanned and ready for the cover of GQ, wearing a deep “French blue” shirt and olive-colored suit as he strode energetically around the front of the stage, wearing a microphone on his lapel, raising his voice often to prod the crowd to hoot for his familiar applause lines
The setting was the Iowa Democratic Party’s annual fall banquet. Bill Bradley and Al Gore, the two candidates vying for the party’s next presidential nomination, addressed about 3,000 party faithful gathered around round tables in a huge convention center in Des Moines.
Bradley’s speech, which lasted about half an hour, sounded general themes (justice and truth bring hope) and the crowd politely applauded his talking points, delivered in the style of the Rhodes scholar he is
Gore’s speech, which lasted 10 minutes longer, began with a verbal challenge to Bradley, than launched into a litany of democratic causes which drew his supporters (in greater number in the hall) to chant and wave campaign placards.