By Edward Walsh
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 3, 2002; Page A05

NASHVILLE, Feb. 2 -- Al Gore began his emergence out of the political shadows tonight, telling a cheering home state audience that he is undecided about running again for president but is ready to "rejoin the national debate" and challenge President Bush and the Republicans on an array of domestic issues.

Still sporting the dark beard with streaks of gray that he grew last year, the former vice president chided Bush and the GOP on their handling of the economy and the environment. Without mentioning the collapse of Enron Corp. and its close ties to the Bush administration, he said recent events demonstrated that campaign finance reform legislation "is needed now more than ever."

But it was far from a slashing partisan attack, and Gore also praised Bush for his response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "We all stand together in the war against terrorism, and we stand with the president and salute his resolve in the fight against terrorism," he said.

Dressed casually in a dark blue shirt, Gore appeared relaxed, joking about his 2000 defeat to Bush and how his life has changed. Referring to criticism of the low profile he adopted after the Supreme Court decided the extraordinarily close 2000 election, he said his withdrawal from public debate was "appropriate given the nature of the election."

But now, he said, it is time to point out that "there are differences between the two parties, real differences."

Gore never mentioned Bush by name in his criticism. Declaring that "our nation's economic policy is simply not working," Gore said that he and President Bill Clinton "did a good job on the economy," but that "after all the hard work that eliminated our deficits and built the strongest American economy in history, our economic house is no longer in order." On the environment, he called for "a massive strategic national effort to develop alternatives to fossil fuels, internal combustion engines, inefficient boilers, and to make use of conservation."

The speech's cautious tone underscored Gore's delicate position as he begins to edge back toward a national political stage that is dominated by the Republican who defeated him and whose popularity has soared since Sept. 11.

Speaking of tonight's speech, a Gore associate said: "The fact it's on Groundhog Day is just a coincidence, I guess, but it's a happy coincidence because he is coming out in a way. That's good for the party because people like him and want him to speak out for the party."

Gore has been laying the groundwork for this reemergence for weeks here in his home state, where his family's political roots run deep but somehow withered during his years as vice president. His father, the late Al Gore Sr., represented Tennessee in the House and the Senate for 30 years. Gore followed his father's path, serving eight years in the House and eight years in the Senate before being elected vice president in 1992.

But in the most important election of his life, Tennessee abandoned him, going narrowly for Bush. Had Gore carried his home state, the bitterly contested outcome in Florida would not have mattered. In his concession speech in 2000, he said he intended to "mend some fences, literally and figuratively," in Tennessee. Democratic officials here say he has been true to his word.

William E. Farmer, chairman of the state Democratic Party, said that on Tuesday, as Bush prepared to deliver his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, Gore traveled to five Tennessee counties to talk to local Democrats.

Tonight, Gore said, "I want to make clear that I understand there's a lot more work for me to do here -- more fences that need mending."

For the roughly 1,000 Democrats who gathered here for the $25 per person state party fundraising event, Gore's return to the political stage was a welcome sight. In interviews, several said that his years as vice president had caused him to drift away from his home state but that they have remained loyal to him.

Asked if she would like Gore to run for president again, Zenia Gunn, 74, said: "Certainly I would because he got it the last time."

Gore made clear tonight that he intends to return to active political life this year, campaigning across the country for other Democrats as his party struggles to maintain its razor-thin control of the Senate and to overcome the slim GOP majority in the House. In October, he formed a political action committee, Leadership '02, that will raise money for the effort.

But lurking just beneath of surface is the question of what Gore will do not in '02 but '04, the next presidential election year. Farmer and others said they believe that Gore has genuinely not decided whether to run for president again. But by campaigning for other Democrats during this year's mid-term elections, he will keep that option open.

"If you are contemplating a race in 2004, it's almost a prerequisite to be active in 2002," said David Axelrod, a Democratic consultant. "I don't think it means he's decided to run. It probably means he hasn't decided not to."

Gore's extraordinarily narrow loss to Bush embittered many Democrats, some of whom blamed the candidate for the defeat. Axelrod said this would be a "burden" if Gore runs again, "but he still starts off in an enviable position in terms of recognition and contacts and experience on the track."

Any Gore political comeback will necessarily have to begin here in Tennessee. Farmer said Gore's effort to reconnect with the people of his home state has benefited from the fact that he no longer is surrounded by the suffocating "entourage" that accompanies a vice president.

Indeed, Gore now moves freely among the voters. Traveling here from their home in Arlington today, the former vice president and his wife, Tipper, were just two relatively anonymous passengers, crammed among the families and other weekend travelers aboard a Southwest Airlines flight from Baltimore-Washington International Airport.