Foreign Policy Debate Lifts Gore, Poll Finds
Sen. Albert Gore Jr. (D-Tenn.) was the best performer at a Democratic foreign policy debate last week-at least by the lights of a small but potentially significant slice of Southern swing voters, according to a survey released yesterday by the Democratic Leadership Council.</br></br>Gore, who set himself apart in the DLC-sponsored encounter on Oct. 5 with his enthusiastic support for U.S. shows of military force in Grenada and the Persian Gulf, had entered the debate in third place among the voters sampled, with 12 percent of the support. After the debate, he was in first place with 38 percent support.</br></br>The candidate with whom he sparred most frequently that evening, Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.), was the other big gainer in the survey. He entered the debate supported by just 8 percent of the viewing sample, in fifth place, and emerged with 19 percent of the support, in second place.</br></br>Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis' support declined from 14 to 11 percent, that of Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.) remained flat at 11 percent, Jesse L. Jackson's dropped from 23 percent to 9 percent, and former Arizona governor Bruce Babbitt's grew from 0 to 3 percent.</br></br>Those surveyed by the DLC, an organization of moderate Democrats, were residents of Charlotte, N.C.; Jacksonville, Fla., and Atlanta, who voted for President Reagan in 1980 or 1984, and voted for a Democratic Senate candidate in 1986.