MADISON, Wis. - Al Gore confronted, at last, the threat that Ralph Nader poses to his candidacy and told tens of thousands in this Green Party enclave Thursday that a vote for Nader plays into the hands of corporate forces backing Republican George W. Bush.
''If the big oil companies and the chemical manufacturers and the other big polluters were able to communicate a message to this state, they would say vote for George Bush or, in any case, vote for Ralph Nader,'' Gore bellowed to his largest throng to date.
''They would say whatever you do, don't vote for Al Gore!''
Gore crammed five states, a global warming alert and talk of leather pants into a single campaign day as he raced to douse Nader's flicker and put a flame under his own image.
His sunset rally here in State Capitol Square was the first time the Democratic presidential candidate publicly and directly acknowledged the straits Nader and the environmental Green Party have put him in.
Not just polluters, but other powerful ''special interests'' want Green-leaning voters to ''cast your vote in a way that will not effect the outcome,'' Gore warned.
He shouted himself hoarse asserting his environmental credentials. ''For 24 years I have never backed down or given up on the environment and I never will in my whole life,'' he said. ''I guaran-damn-tee it!''
With Bush-Gore horserace polls seesawing by just a couple of percentage points, Democrats are more and more anxious that Nader's single-digit support from independents and environmentalists could tip the race to Bush in half a dozen states.
Bradley Whitford, who plays the deputy White House chief of staff on TV's ''West Wing,'' seemed to address his introduction of Gore in Madison to the dozens of noisy Nader supporters hoisting signs like ''Drop out now so Nader can win.''
''This ain't no stinking TV show,'' Whitford called out. ''The stakes are high and the consequences are real.''
Whitford wasn't the only TV personality in Gore's crowded path as he pushed the boundaries of an already personality-driven presidential race.
At a morning taping in Bettendorf, Iowa, Gore offered up to rap star Queen Latifah that he prefers a woman in lace - not leather - has never worn leather pants. He said he still has a motorcycle driver's license and ''might,'' as president, take to a bike again.
''I want to see the reaction from the Secret Service,'' he chuckled on Latifah's syndicated talk show.
For the day, Gore aides ordered up red campaign T-shirts with the slogan, ''Too hot to stop.''
Reflecting the neck-and-neck urgency of his race against Bush, Gore nixed plans for a leisurely cruise across Lake Michigan next week, and replaced it with a bus tour where he can see more Michigan and Wisconsin voters.
On Thursday, he also campaigned in Missouri, touched down in Illinois and was arriving in West Virginia just in time to sleep before Friday events in Charleston.
Gore seized on a new scientific report on climate change to underscore what he says is the necessity of his environmental agenda.
A United Nations-sponsored scientists' report concludes that, because of man-made pollution, the average global temperature could rise as much as 11 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of this century.
Bush, Gore alleged, ''says on global warming he's not sure what the cause is and maybe we shouldn't do anything except just study it.''
Gesturing to children whose parents took them out of school for a rally in the streets of Davenport, Iowa, Gore continued: ''These kids have a right to expect that we will take responsibility for picking the hard right over the easy wrong.''
Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett responded: ''The governor does believe it's a problem but also believes we should have all the best science and knowledge available before we make a decision.''
In defense of Bush's environmental record, Bartlett said Bush signed legislation requiring emissions reductions from Texas utility plants exempted from the 1972 Clean Air Act - a move the Gore campaign dismissed as token since it did not cover the state's oil refineries.
Nader entered the fray with an open letter to environmentalists, dated Oct. 20, that called Gore a ''corporate environmentalist'' who has allowed big business to define environmental policy.
In Thursday's jumble of politicking, Gore also sought to repair a lingering image problem in polls.
''You know you have this reputation for being straight up,'' Latifah told Gore, asking for a ''peek at your wild side'' on her show airing Nov. 1.
He boasted of piling four people onto his motorcycle for a double date in college.
Latifah marveled that he wasn't pulled over by police.
''Actually, there was a blue light and I can't say for sure that they were coming after us but just on the chance they were we cut through an alley,'' Gore reported.
Turning to the audience of college students, he added, ''That was a long time ago. Do not try that at home.''
