Al Gore launched his fall quest for the White House last night, pledging a “better, fairer, more prosperous America’’ in the climactic speech of the Democratic National Convention. He officially accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for president. Gore pledged to fight for expanded health care, environmental protection, better education, targeted tax cuts, campaign finance reform, prescription drugs for Medicare recipients, and more. In remarks that seem to have been written for a different person, Gore said, “We’re for the people. Big tobacco, big oil, the big polluters, the pharmaceutical companies, the HMOs. Sometimes you have to be willing to stand up and say no, so families can have a better life.'’ We go now to an excerpt of Al Gore's acceptance speech.

Tape:

• Al Gore’s Acceptance Speech

Guest:

• Tom Hayden, State Senator in California. He is a veteran activist, one of the founders of Students for a Democratic Society in the early 1960s. He was also one of the Chicago 8 who were put on trial in Chicago in 1968, following the mass protests in the streets during the Democratic Convention.