Texas Gov. George W. Bush traveled to the swing state of Michigan on Friday to attack Al Gore as an enemy of the automobile whose focus on the environment would damage the economy. Bush noted that the vice president cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate in 1993 to raise gasoline taxes and quoted from Earth in the Balance, in which Gore wrote that the internal combustion engine is a “mortal threat” to the world because of its contributions to global warming. Bush said, “In his speeches, [Gore] calls auto workers his friends. But in his book, he declares that the engines that power your cars are his enemy.” A spokesperson for Gore said his campaign proposals include no new energy taxes but rather incentives for automakers to produce cars not powered solely by gasoline. A new poll has Bush pulling even with Gore in Michigan, after weeks of polls showing the veep with a small lead.
