Gore as president: Big plans, likely collisions with Congress

WASHINGTON - If Al Gore wins the presidency, he'll walk into the Oval Office with an insider's knowledge about how Washington works and a fat packet of plans on everything from arms control to welfare reform.

With Treasury's coffers filled by record budget surpluses, a President Gore would be brimming with proposals: prescription drug benefits for senior citizens, tax credits for child care, health care for all kids, more teachers for crowded classrooms, new schools, tax breaks for college and more.

His impulse is for government activism. His challenge would be to set realistic priorities.

Gore could confront trouble on Capitol Hill, where Republicans regard the Democratic vice president as more partisan and ideological than President Clinton. In budget negotiations between the White House and Congress, GOP members say, it was Gore more often than Clinton who was the hard-liner. That could slow Gore's legislative agenda - particularly in a Congress where power is expected to be narrowly divided between Republicans and Democrats.

In foreign affairs, Gore has promised that on his first day in office he'll resubmit the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty to the Senate, which voted it down last year. He's also pledged that his first bill would be a campaign finance reform measure, marking a quick re-entry into that controversy after the election.

Many of his ideas are leftovers from the Clinton administration. That's hardly a surprise since Gore had a role in shaping White House policy over the past eight years. Indeed, as vice president, senator and congressman over the past quarter century, he has taken part in every major policy debate in Washington of the past generation.

Known as a ''policy wonk,'' a President Gore would immerse himself in memos and decision papers and then demand more information. He likes to hear a wide range of views. A onetime investigative reporter, Gore would grill briefers on how they arrived at their recommendations, who they talked to. No detail is too small to pique his interest.

Study. Preparation. Gore thrives on it. Once he has absorbed a subject and reached a decision, he would be hard to budge.

As vice president, he has been known to scribble notes on an electronic blackboard in his office and print out the results for his staff. He is very visual, likes to doodle. The famously wooden Gore is not comfortable telling jokes, some say, because he feels that is inappropriate for public officials.

Presidential scholar Richard Neustadt has told colleagues that Gore - intensely curious - was the best student he'd ever had at Harvard. They have kept in touch over the years.

As president, ''he'd make decisions easily, confidently and knowledgeably,'' Neustadt said. But he also said Gore would have a much tougher time capturing the public's imagination, winning over the press and shaping opinion.

Others say Gore, despite his long resume, would face a learning curve.

''If you look at Gore in pressure situations, candidly he has not done well,'' said Democratic political strategist Jim Duffy. He said Gore's ''no-controlling-legal-authority'' excuse about 1996 fund-raising calls was a prime example.

Typically, Gore's desk is cluttered with books, papers and scraps of notes. His computer is at the side, ready to send dozens of e-mails to staff, family and friends. A mini-camera is perched on top, allowing him to communicate by picture as well as voice and print to a select few.

At lunch he'll often eat at his desk with a meal from the White House mess. He likes the Oreo frozen yogurt - available only on Fridays.

Gore has an intense interest in science, technology and the environment. While Republican rival George W. Bush's energy policy focuses on drilling for more oil in Alaska, Gore talks about cars that pollute less and travel 80 miles on a gallon of gas.

''I think Gore has made up his mind about a lot of questions,'' said presidential historian Henry Graff. ''And they're mainly the important questions that the country and the world will face in the next few years as far as we can predict such questions.''

Foreign policy has long been a Gore specialty and would have a prominent place in his presidency. He does not shy away from using military force. Gore and running mate Joseph Lieberman broke with their party to support President Bush in the Persian Gulf War. Gore described himself as a hardliner against now-ousted Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic.

He has chaired crisis meetings in the Situation Room in Clinton's absence and, at Clinton's request, developed special relationships with leaders from Russia to the Middle East. On the campaign trail, Gore rattles off the names of presidents and prime ministers to show he's on top of the game.

He became a student of arms control in Congress, immersing himself in the dense subject during long hours of study with national security specialist Leon Feurth, who followed Gore from Capitol Hill to the White House as his national security adviser.

In debate with Bush, Gore described a more active role for the United States abroad. Like his late father, a senator, Gore is a committed internationalist.

''Like it or not,'' Gore said, ''the United States is now the natural leader of the world. All these other countries are looking to us. Now, just because we cannot be involved everywhere and shouldn't be, doesn't mean that we should shy away from going in anywhere.''