By Ron Fournier
AP Political Writer
Wednesday, Oct. 27, 1999; 9:12 p.m. EDT

HANOVER, N.H. –– Pressed in campaign debate about President Clinton's personal behavior, Vice President Al Gore said Wednesday night he shared the public's disappointment and anger during the Monica Lewinsky controversy and sought to provide "as much continuity and civility" as possible.

"He's my friend," Gore said of the president, fielding the first question from a voter in the first debate with presidential campaign rival Bill Bradley.

Bradley, too, was pressed on a potential campaign softspot, Gore's criticism of his Senate retirement in 1996 at a time when Republicans had taken control of Congress.

"The things I wanted to do I couldn't do in the Senate," he said, referring to stops at Stanford, in the private sector and at Notre Dame. In a gentle jab at Gore, who has been in government continuously since 1976, Bradley said that by leaving office, he had been able to "encounter people where they live their lives." In a followup poke, he said, "If you're going to do this, you ought to deal with the big problems and you ought to have big solutions to big problems." Clinton often has been criticized for advocating bite-size solutions to problems.

Gore sought to take the offensive 15 minutes before the television cameras were switched on – and again as the scheduled hour was wrapping up, when he said he would gladly remain to answer any remaining questions.

Earlier, onstage for introductions to the audience, the vice president turned to the audience and said: "What do we do now? ... Why don't you start asking some question while we're waiting."

With that, members of the audience did.

The first question was about bipartisanship, and both pledged to work with Republicans and Democrats.

The two men sat on stools at a Dartmouth College auditorium for the 60-minutes debate, televised by CNN. The first ballots of the 200 primary campaign will be cast in New Hampshire in February, and the polls show Bradley with a lead, having overcome Gore's enormous early advantage.

Only a few moments into the debate, Gore was asked about Clinton.

"I understand the disappointment and anger you felt toward President Clinton. I feel it myself," he said.

The vice president added: "He's my friend. I took an oath under the Constitution to serve my country through thick and thin and I interpreted that oath to mean that I ought to try and provide as much continuity and civility ... as I possibly could."

Gore also noted there were "some real hard fights" on economic and other issues at the time.

Bradley sat on his stool listening when Gore addressed what is likely to be a key issue in his bid to succeed Clinton in the Oval Office.

The two men squared off before an audience of 500 at Dartmouth College. Members of the audience were selected by lottery.

The debate rules weren't designed for the two men to address one another directly.

But at one point, Bradley took issue with a claim about his health insurance proposal that Gore had made. "I dispute the cost figure that Al has used," he said.

Bradley spoke emphatically about his support for gay rights.

"I support gays being able to serve openly in the military. If gays can serve openly in the White House, in Congress, in the courts, in the Treasury Department ... why can't they serve in the military?" he asked. "It just doesn't make any sense."

When Gore got a similar question, he said Bradley's answer had been eloquent, then followed up by saying he supports legal protection for same-sex domestic partnerships, but "not the same sacrament, not the same name," as marriage.

The stakes were high for the two men, probably higher for the vice president, who has watched a commanding lead in national and statewide polls shrivel in the face of a spirited effort by the former New Jersey senator.

In their pre-debate, Gore pledged to reform campaign finance laws and practice "a different kind of campaigning," suggesting that his call for weekly debates would improve the political process.

Bradley said, "Politics has become the mechanics of winning too much. What's been lost is a sense of service."

Gore is trying to rejuvenate his presidential bid with a more relaxed, less rigid style on the campaign trail. At the same time, he has sharpened his criticism of Bradley, calling him a "left of center" insurgent who would build an enormous federal deficit with his health care and anti-poverty plans.

All but ignoring the barbs, Bradley is sticking to a months-old strategy to portray himself as the candidate of big ideas and Gore the timid practitioner of "trifling things." While Gore jazzes up his performances, Bradley still wear reading glasses on the stump and avoids sound bites; his style is a lack of style.

Gore advisers cautioned him before the debate to avoid appearing too negative, though he was poised to seize on any question that gave him an opening to question Bradley's proposals or his rival's commitment to the party. Bradley's team had the former senator ready to respond if Gore went on the attack.

"We're not going to just let him mischaracterize us," said Bradley's communications director, Anita Dunn.

The debate was held in the context of new Democratic polling that underscored Bradley's surge. A Quinnipiac College survey released Tuesday showed him leading Gore 47 percent to 39 percent in New Hampshire, just outside the margin of error.

Bradley has pulled even in New York and has narrowed the vice president's lead in Iowa.

Two polls released Wednesday showed that Bradley trails Gore nationally, though he has gained ground since July and April, respectively. Other polls suggest that Gore has slowed his slide in national polls this fall.

The vice president had expressed no interest in debating until Bradley dashed his hopes for an easy primary contest. Gore now says he wants to debate weekly, though the campaigns have agreed on only a handful of dates before the first votes are cast in Iowa's late-January caucuses.

Gore brought three Cabinet secretaries to New Hampshire to praise his performance in post-debate interviews.

After the Democrats, five of the six Republican candidates – absent the front-running George W. Bush – will have another turn at debating Thursday night. They met last Friday without drawing sharp lines on major issues.

Bush skipped the debates, citing schedule conflicts, but as the front-runner he also is unwilling to let the others at him so soon. He has agreed to a debate in Manchester, N.H., on Dec. 2.