Gore to MTV crowd: You can call me Al

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The introduction for Al Gore's MTV appearance made him older than he really is. But it also celebrated his motorcycle-riding youth when he ''even smoked the herb.''

The baby boomer candidate told the twentysomethings to call him Al.

Occasionally taking a shot at being hip, the Democratic presidential nominee fielded dozens of sober questions - on racism, gun control and education - and some offbeat ones, too, at the University of Michigan for the MTV cable channel's ''Choose or Lose'' program on Tuesday.

He weighed in on the side of intellectual property rights in the record conglomerates' copyright-violation lawsuit against the music-sharing Web site Napster.

''It's a great technology, but it can only be used over the long term if they find a way to protect the rights of the artist. If you make something then people take it for nothing, well ... intellectual property is still property,'' Gore said.

He escaped the boxers-or-briefs query that etched MTV's mark on politics when President Clinton replied ''usually briefs'' at a 1994 youth forum. Instead, one student stumped Gore with, ''Paper or plastic?''

''Oh, man. I've never figured that one out. Just lump it up in your arms and take it all like that,'' Gore said, adding with a sigh, ''I usually get paper because I like the paper better.''

Gore's 90-minute questioning on MTV, best known for its music videos, was being broadcast Tuesday night to an estimated 1 million viewers. It followed his TV appearances with Oprah Winfrey, Jay Leno and David Letterman, and was part of Gore's effort to mobilize young voters in the battle against Republican rival George W. Bush.

A survey released this week by the Kaiser Family Foundation and MTV found that less than half of the under-25 crowd is ''absolutely'' certain to vote in November.

MTV aired its own rough-cut biography of Gore, identifying him as 53 (he turned 52 on March 31), and noting that ''he's into P.D.A.'' (That's ''public display of affection,'' as in his big kiss with wife Tipper at last month's Democratic convention.)

As for Gore's early resume, MTV said, ''He listened to rock, rode a motorcycle and even smoked the herb.''

One woman asked Gore about that ''herb,'' telling him a member of her family was in jail for giving marijuana to a cancer patient.

The vice president replied that he is against legalizing marijuana for medical use because ''thus far, there is absolutely no evidence'' it is medically effective.

Gore released his own biographical ad on Tuesday, the latest in a string of positive spots. It opens with highlights of his life: Vietnam veteran, father of four, married for 30 years. It then ticks off a list of his promises, among them: a tax deduction for college tuition, continuing welfare reform and a crime victims' ''bill of rights.''

MTV representatives said Bush has been invited to make a similar appearance but has not accepted.

In shirtsleeves, Gore appeared at ease with the young crowd, which included daughter Karenna, 27.

''Can I call you Al?'' one student asked.

''Absolutely,'' Gore replied. ''You know the Paul Simon song, right?''

During one commercial break, after the moderator said the next segment would deal with the Internet and the environment, Gore said jokingly, ''Did you know that I invented the environment?''

In a round of rapid-fire questioning, Gore revealed that the rock group Sister Hazel is in his CD player these days, he would cast college roommate and actor Tommy Lee Jones in the role of Al Gore, he would invite Lenny Kravitz to perform at the inauguration and the best perk of being promoted would be Air Force One.

And if he loses?

''I would probably be a writer of some kind,'' the one-time newspaper reporter said.

Gore defended his support for the death penalty and abortion rights. To one woman who worried that girls were using abortion as birth control, Gore said they need ''access to appropriate sex education, family planning and programs including abstinence but all the range of options.''

A black student who described being pulled over while driving and ''surrounded by six police cars'' pressed Gore on why the administration hasn't issued an executive order banning racial profiling.

Clinton is gathering evidence for such an order, Gore said, adding that if he is elected, ''a ban on racial profiling will be the first civil rights act of the 21st century.''

To a fan of Eminem and Marilyn Manson music, Gore defended his criticism of the marketing of violent and sexual entertainment to kids. And he agreed to give hip hop a listen, taking the Mos Def CD ''Black on Both Sides'' from another student and promising to e-mail his comments.

He asked the Mos Def fan:

''What do you think a woman feels if an artist says, 'Beat up your woman?' You know, 'Hit her upside the head with a gun?'''

The young man replied the music is a reflection of urban reality.