Gore takes White House campaign to Oprah TV show

CHICAGO, Illinois (Reuters) -- Al Gore, always looking to reach out to potential voters, takes his White House campaign on Monday to the Oprah Winfrey television show, which draws an average daily audience of 7.3 million people.

The Democratic presidential nominee will be interviewed for the full hour by Winfrey as she begins her 15th season hosting one of the nation's most popular syndicated TV programs.

With two months to go before Election Day, the vice president wants to increase exposure for himself and his proposals.

"This will be another chance for the vice president to connect with voters," said Gore spokesman Kym Spell.

Winfrey, who will interview Gore's Republican rival, George W. Bush, next week, said, "I wanted the opportunity to have a real conversation with the candidates, and to understand where each stands -- not just on the issues, but with regard to their character."

Later on Monday, Gore will host a town-hall meeting in Belleville, Illinois, on his plans to upgrade education.

In a 191-page economic plan released last week, Gore called for spending $170 billion of the projected federal surplus over the next decade on education.

The money would go to reduce class size, increase teacher quality, standards and pay, provide pre-school to all children, build new schools and modernize old ones, hook up every school to the Internet and make most college tuition tax deductible.

Gore, who has said he would make education his top priority, plans to tout his plans again on Tuesday with a yellow school bus ride across much of Ohio -- from Dayton to Cincinnati.

On Wednesday he intends to spend a day at a school in Portland, Maine, discussing his education plans, and then talk about education again on Thursday and Friday on campaign visits to New Hampshire and Washington.

Also on Thursday, Gore will appear on David Letterman's television show, which has been trying for months to host a debate between the vice president and the Texas governor.

While Gore has accepted an invitation to take part in such a debate, Bush has said he is still considering it.

Between the TV shows and education events this week, Gore will attend three Democratic National Committee (DNC) fund-raisers -- all featuring big name entertainers.

Singers Cher and Michael Bolton will help headline an $800,000 fund-raiser in Philadelphia on Tuesday, while singer James Taylor will be at a $1 million fund-raiser in Boston on Wednesday.

In New York City on Thursday, the DNC hopes to pull in about $5 million, with the help of such performers as Jimmy Buffett, Bette Midler and Paul Simon.

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