GORE, BRADLEY HAMMER GOP SUPREME COURT NOMINEES AT ISSUE.

Byline: Dominic Berbeo Staff Writer

In a Los Angeles debate that could be the last between Democratic presidential hopefuls Al Gore and Bill Bradley, the two opponents switched course Wednesday by striking a friendly tone and setting themselves apart from the Republican candidates on issues like abortion, campaign reform and gun control.

``Both Gov. Bush and Sen. McCain are as anti-choice as you can get,'' Vice President Gore said, referring to the two Republican candidates. Knowing that is important to voters because the next president will likely be called upon to nominate three judges to the country's highest court, he said.

Bradley, a former New Jersey senator, said that if elected president, he would appoint Supreme Court judges who interpret the Constitution with contemporary considerations.

``The new conservatism is the same as the old conservatism,'' he said, adding that he would make it a top priority to uphold the historic court decision of Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion.

The debate was seen as a last prayer for Bradley to breathe new life into his campaign, which suffered another loss this week to Gore in the Washington state primary.

On Tuesday, March 7, voters in California and 14 other states will go to the polls in what has been dubbed ``Super Tuesday'' because nearly one-third of the country's delegates will be chosen as a result of that day's voting.

Bradley acknowledged that day will be vital to his campaign, and hinted that he might pull out of the race if he doesn't fare well at the ballot box.

``That's the day I think you have to take all,'' he said.

Both Bradley and Gore took the Republicans to task for failing to implement strong gun control laws in the face of National Rifle Association opposition and contributions.

Gore vowed to ``take the NRA head-on,'' and Bradley said he would ``beat the NRA'' with legislation requiring stronger screening of gun buyers and bans on certain types of weapons.

Another hot topic the two opponents agreed on in the CNN-Los Angeles Times debate was implementing campaign reform through public financing of campaigns, banning soft-money contributions and requiring free radio and television air time for candidates.

The two candidates also agreed on federal monitoring of alleged racial profiling in local law enforcement agencies, the need for universal health care, a raise in military wages, additional gay-rights laws, holding off on imposing Internet sales taxes and additional amnesty for illegal immigrants.

The only discord, which came toward the end of the debate, was when Bradley renewed earlier criticism that Gore voted conservatively on gun control and abortion issues while in Congress.

Gore countered by saying he had voted for a law banning public financing of abortions, but had always been pro-choice. He also reaffirmed that as president, he would get tougher gun control laws passed.

After the debate, Bradley was scheduled to head back to New York, the state with the second-most delegate seats after California, where he played professional basketball and now hopes to garner much-needed votes in Tuesday's primary.

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2 photos

Photo: (1 -- color) Bill Bradley, pondering a question during Wednesday's Los Angeles debate with Vice President Al Gore, left, appears to be praying for a victory in Tuesday's primary. If he doesn't make a good showing, he hinted, he might drop out of the race to become the Democratic presidential nominee.

Pool photo

(2 -- color) Vice President Al Gore gestures during a debate with candidate Bill Bradley, in background, Wednesday in Los Angeles.