April 6, 1999
Web posted at: 5:06 p.m. EST (2206 GMT)

LOS ANGELES (AllPolitics, April 6) -- As Al Gore continued his swing through California Tuesday, the vice president continued to divide his time and attention on campaign events and official business.

On the Kosovo front, Gore resumed discussions with Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov Tuesday morning, the first contact between the two since Primakov canceled his trip to Washington two weeks ago in protest of NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia.

"We are trying to limit damage to the U.S.-Russian relationship," Gore said of the 40-minute phone conversation. "He and I have a very good personal relationship. The call was businesslike. That characterizes most of our exchanges."

Gore initiated the conversation, calling Primakov from his hotel room in Los Angeles. The vice president has cultivated a strong relationship with Primakov over the years, engaging in both public and back-channel diplomacy.

Meanwhile, the official Gore 2000 Web site was set to launch after 5 p.m. EDT Tuesday as campaign director Craig Smith promised the "most informative and most interactive" campaign site. The Web site is located at http://www.algore2000.com.

The Gore campaign says the goal is to get people involved. The site allows users to write in questions for Gore (that the candidate hopes to answer two of each day), kids to submit artwork, supporters to send in their own pictures from Gore campaign events and, of course, make campaign contributions. An interactive town hall meeting with Gore is also planned for next week -- the first of its kind the campaign claims.

Resources on Gore's candidacy are also available including FEC filings and transcripts of his speeches dating back to the first term of the Clinton Administration, with more to be added. "The goal is for this to be a living site," Smith said.

Gore visit to California is his 55th since becoming vice president. California is considered the political jackpot. Aside from its 54 electoral votes there is also a lot of money to raised in California.

Monday night, Gore attended his first campaign fund-raising event held in California.

At the event, the vice president also defended the U.S. role in the NATO airstrikes on Serbian targets in Yugoslavia and Kosovo. "We are right to stand against the immorality and cruelty and these crimes against humanity now taking place in Kosovo." Earlier Monday Gore visited with about 25 Albanian refugees at a relief agency in Los Angeles.

With 600 people each paying $1,000 to attend the fund-raiser, Gore 2000 raised $600,000. But it's not just money that Gore needs from California.

And on Monday a group of Republican high tech Silicon Valley CEOs took out an ad supporting Bush. In 1992, when Bush's dad ran against Bill Clinton, Silicon Valley heavily favored Clinton.

CNN's Charles Feldman and Carin Dessauer contributed to this report.

Tuesday, April 6, 1999

• Tense times mean little expected from Chinese premier's visit
• Gore resumes contact with Primakov; launches campaign Web site
• Clinton urges expansion of hate crime law
• Transcript: Clinton speaks on hate crimes
• Missouri refuses to toss out ban on concealed guns
• Jurors get mixed instructions on McDougal's criticism of Starr
• Jesse Jackson asks Yugoslavs for U.S. captives' release
• Kennedys to open Camelot's summer home to big donors
• Hawk kills duck on White House lawn
• Justice hires consultant for tobacco case
• Refugee issues not new to Clinton
• Whitewater figure Hale sentenced to three weeks in prison
• Judge dismisses case in alleged plot to kill Reno
• Bush finds 'different intensity' in presidential politics
• High tech executives back Bush candidacy

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