Gore picks up UAW nod, jabs from Bush over Clinton

YPSILANTI, Michigan (CNN) -- Vice President Al Gore pitched himself to auto workers as a man of the people, while Texas Gov. George W. Bush defied him to prove that he was not just one of the president's yes men.

Gore flew into the heart of the nation's auto industry Friday to personally pick up the endorsement of the United Auto Workers.

"A lot of you know how long and how hard I have worked to gain your confidence and your endorsement," said the Democratic presidential candidate.

Gore had to work for that endorsement because the union is not thrilled with the candidate's position on free trade.

"It's very clear: we don't see eye-to-eye on every issue. We have a little different thought when it comes to trade," UAW President Stephen Yokich told the rally at the Willow Run Airport.

Al Gore speaks to United Auto Workers union members in Ypsilanti, Michigan

But Yokich said Gore understands "that trade bills should have workers' rights in it and environment in it. And the union leader promised Gore would work to make sure U.S. jobs didn't go overseas.

The endorsement eases a thorny labor problem for Gore in some important Midwestern battleground states. Campaign manager Donna Brazile said the 700,000-member UAW, which also boasts 600,000 retirees, would especially help Gore in the tossup states of Illinois, Ohio and Michigan.

Gore also vowed to work for the working men and women, telling the crowd to support him because their future was at stake. He said his ticket would be pro-union and pro-collective bargaining, pro-worker and pro-working families.

He also vowed to work against the privatization of Social Security, strengthen Medicare, and get a prescription drug benefit -- to make retirement more secure for older workers.

Gore warned that the next administration would choose three or four U.S. Supreme Court Justices who could make decisions on law affecting labor issues.

While Gore promoted himself at the union rally in Michigan and a doll factory in Pennsylvania as the candidate for working people, his Republican opponent worked to remind voters that Gore is part of the Clinton administration that was tarnished by the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

"He ought to let us know where he differed from the president on policy matters as well as everything else," George W. Bush told reporters on his campaign plane. "Either you're part of an administration or you're not part of an administration is how I view it."

Bush speaks during a rally at the University of Portland in Oregon Friday

At his next campaign stop, Bush was introduced by former primary rival John McCain, who hailed him as "the man who will restore dignity, honor and respect to the White House."

The two men campaigned Friday in Oregon and Washington, two states that haven't voted for a Republican presidential candidate in 16 years. Bush hopes the voters are so tired of Clinton that they are ready for a change.

Bush focused on education in a speech at the University of Portland, telling a crowd of about 2,500 that "every child can learn. Not one child can be left behind."

He also said that if elected president, he'll ask Congress to fund a program on reading. He also says one of his big jobs would be "to lift the spirit of the country."

Bush's running mate, Dick Cheney, was in Michigan where he said Gore was not responsible for Clinton's mistakes. But Cheney said he thought it would be a mistake to vote for Gore because it would be more of the same policies.

"A Gore administration would be a continuation of the last eight years" under Clinton, he said.

Cheney toured a Holland, Michigan, store, which hires people coming off welfare. Later, he was to visit a state employment center in Moline, Illinois.

The stops were the last of a three-day trip aimed at beefing up support for Bush in states where millions of independent voters who swing between Democrats and Republicans could decide the November election. Cheney made stops in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Missouri and Illinois.

Gore's running mate joined him earlier Friday in Pennsylvania, a state with 23 electoral votes. Clinton carried the state in the past two presidential elections, but analysts say this year's outcome at the ballot box is unpredictable.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman later headed back to Washington for the Jewish Sabbath, which began at sundown Friday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.