Gore Silent on Year 2000 Computer Glitch That Could Haunt
His Campaign (Washn)
By Stephen Barr and Rajiv Chandrasekaran
(c) 1998, The Washington Post
WASHINGTON When it's time to talk technology, Vice President Al
Gore never seems to be at a loss for words. Wiring schools to the
Internet. Celebrating the virtues of electronic mail. Using computers
to streamline government.
But when it comes to the Year 2000 computer glitch, arguably the
nation's most pressing technological problem, Gore has been strikingly
silent. There have been no public speeches, no ''town hall'' meetings,
no photo ops with programmers.
For Gore, that may be because the Year 2000 glitch isn't just a
technological worry, it's also a political one that could be
potentially damaging to him, political analysts say.
Industry experts contend that the federal government has been slow
to address the issue, raising worries that crucial computer systems
from those that control airplane traffic to ones that process payments
to schools, farmers and veterans could grind to a halt on Jan. 1,
2000. That's right when Gore might find himself campaigning across
Iowa and New Hampshire, seeking the Democratic presidential
nomination.
''It's very much a factor in his positioning for the 2000 race,''
suggested Andrew L. Shapiro, a fellow at the Berkman Center for
Internet and Society at Harvard University. ''Al doesn't want it to be
Al's mess.''
Gore spokesman Lawrence Haas said the vice president receives
regular briefings on the government's progress in fixing Year 2000
computer problems, has personally directed the Cabinet to make the
fixes a high priority and has spoken about the potential crisis to the
President's Management Council, a group of senior political
appointees.
''He is not avoiding the issue,'' Haas said.
Asked to point out speeches in which Gore has talked about the
so-called millennium bug, Haas could not identify one.
The Year 2000 problem stems from the fact that many computer
systems use a two-digit dating system that assumes 1 and 9 are the
first two digits of the year. Without specialized reprogramming, the
systems will recognize ''00'' not as 2000 but 1900, a glitch that
could cause computers to either stop working or start generating
erroneous data.
Virtually every Cabinet department and federal agency promises it
will have fixed and tested its computer systems and links before the
2000 deadline, but any significant airline delay, power outage or
telecommunications breakdown could give Gore's political opponents an
opening to question his credibility or mock his efforts to
''reinvent'' government.
Republicans, in particular, appear ready to try to pin any problem
on him. In a recent memo to ''members of Congress and conservative
leaders'' on the Year 2000 problem, would-be GOP presidential
contender Steve Forbes recently asked, ''What has the administration's
technology point man, Vice President Al Gore, been doing for the past
five years?''
Rep. Stephen Horn, R-Calif., a House Government Reform subcommittee
chairman who has held hearings on the Year 2000 problem since April
1996, said, ''All of us have wondered where he is, since he is
supposed to be the expert on all the good things in the 21st century
telecommunications, computers, technology.''
Administration officials noted that President Clinton created a
special White House council in February to lead the government's
effort to prevent widespread computer problems in 2000 and said Gore
was personally involved in recruiting John A. Koskinen, who has
specialized in crisis management, to lead the council.
The vice president, Koskinen said, has ''provided the support and
leadership that we need at this stage. It doesn't do us a lot of good
just to have people talking. My sense is to try to figure out the
points of leverage, what are the issues that need to be raised and at
what time.''
Greg Simon, Gore's former chief domestic-policy adviser and now a
technology policy consultant in Washington, said public speeches by
the vice president could ''give out the impression that he's promising
to fix everyone's (Year 2000) problem.
''It's more effective for him to work behind the scenes,'' Simon
said.
Rep. Constance A. Morella, R-Md., who called on the White House
last year to designate a Year 2000 czar, said she hopes Koskinen can
spur the government to work faster on computer fixes. Like some other
lawmakers, she said the White House has not used its bully pulpit
enough to educate the public about possible economic consequences or
inconveniences.
''Ignoring this problem is a bigger risk than addressing it,''
Morella said.
Sen. Robert F. Bennett, R-Utah, who heads a special Senate
committee focusing on the problem, and Senate Appropriations Committee
Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, recently called for $2.25 billion to
be set aside to deal with the computer fix.
White House officials said Clinton is doing his part, too. The
president is planning an address on the issue in the next month or so,
aides said. Clinton raised the Year 2000 problem with Latin American
leaders at their summit and worked with British Prime Minister Tony
Blair to ensure that the communique issued at the end of the recent
meeting of the Group of Eight major industrialized nations called
attention to the computer challenge.
Asked about the Year 2000 problem at a Rose Garden event earlier
this week, Clinton said the government plans to share information with
other countries ''and do everything we can do to make sure that when
the new millennium starts, it's a happy event and not a cyberspace
headache.''
Gore is taking the issue seriously, Haas said.
''The other party has been quite open about its political strategy
of tying any problems that occur specifically to the vice president,''
he said.
On the Year 2000 computer front, Haas said, ''We have the right
people in place, we have the right process in place and we do not
expect major problems.''
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