Gore, in Texas, to continue criticism of Bush's stance on Balkans

Bush huddles with Republican governors

In this story: Social Security still hot topic Bush to launch 'Barnstorm for Reform' RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

WASHINGTON -- Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore, who was in Gov. George W. Bush's home state of Texas on Sunday, plans to continue attacking his Republican opponent's proposal to withdraw U.S. peacekeepers from the Balkans.

Vice President Gore said pulling U.S. troops out of the Balkans "would be a damaging blow to NATO."

"I strongly disagree with this view," Gore said. "I believe it demonstrates a lack of judgment and a complete misunderstanding of history."

Gore's comments were prompted by an article in Saturday's New York Times, in which Bush's senior national security aide, Condoleeza Rice, said Bush would inform NATO that the United States should no longer participate in the Balkans peacekeeping operation if he wins the presidency.

The Bush campaign said any pullout would come after consultations with European allies and that U.S. forces should be used primarily to deter and fight wars instead of for "police functions and civil administration."

But Gore, speaking Saturday at a campaign appearance in Washington with the Service Employees International Union, said: "If we had not worked with our NATO allies to end the bloodshed in the Balkans, the entire region would still be in chaos, threatening American security."

Gore also said U.S. forces make up less than 20 percent of the current peacekeeping force in the Balkans and European forces constitute more than 80 percent.

Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer said the GOP nominee "has made very clear the role of our military should be to fight and win wars and not be the peacekeepers around the world."

Fleischer said Bush thinks European forces should take care of the entire peacekeeping operation in the Balkans.

"The governor's remarks were focused on one area of the world that involved a military mission that has now turned into an enduring peacekeeping mission," he said.

Social Security still hot topic

Gore made his first stop Sunday in Dallas, where he pitched his "strong families" agenda that includes tax credits for college tuition, aid to public schools, monitoring of the entertainment industry and reform of the Social Security retirement system.

"Gore would protect and expand retirement security ... Bush drains $1 trillion from Social Security," the Gore campaign warned in a news release ahead of Gore's appearance at a multiracial church called Potter's House.

The Gore camp's strategy is to keep Bush on the defensive over Social Security. The vice president criticized his rival's proposals in last week's third and final presidential debate.

The campaign said in Sunday's release that Bush's plan to let individuals privately invest a portion of their Social Security taxes conflicts with his pledge to protect benefits for senior citizens.

"He cannot keep both promises but will be faced with a choice between benefit cuts up to 54 percent or bankrupting Social Security 14 years early," it said.

Bush and Gore are deadlocked in a contest that is shaping up to be the closest race for the presidency since 1960, when Democrat John F. Kennedy edged out Republican Richard Nixon.

Gore was joined in Dallas by Coretta Scott King, widow of slain civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The vice president on Sunday will also campaign in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Portland, Oregon.

Bush to launch 'Barnstorm for Reform'

Meanwhile, Bush will team up with 28 other Republican governors Sunday to kick off a "Barnstorm for Reform" campaign through 25 states over the next three days.

As part of an intensified effort to attract independents and what Bush has been calling "open-minded" Democrats, most of the states that will be visited by the governors were won by Democratic President Clinton in 1996.

"We are very excited about this, this is unprecedented," said Fleischer. "We have every Republican governor save one coming into Austin to meet with Governor Bush, then barnstorm across the United States."

The missing governor is West Virginia's Cecil Underwood, who is fighting a tough campaign at home to keep his job.

During the three-day "barnstorm" this week, Bush plans to keep pushing his message of a need for change and reform in Washington. He wants to use the governors as an example of how reform can work and bring about policy changes.

"There will every day be a reminder of what Al Gore's big government policies will do to the American people if Al Gore is elected," Fleischer said. "Every day Governor Bush will continue to respectfully but forcefully push the case of what will happen to America if Al Gore is elected."

Bush will team up with four governors on Monday in Midwestern states where he hopes to make some inroads. He will campaign in Kansas City, Missouri, Des Moines, Iowa, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Reuters contributed to this report.