GORE JOINS DAVIS IN SOUTH L.A.; MCCLINTOCK BACKS OFF BOYCOTT.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer

Former Vice President Al Gore rallied opposition to the recall and Proposition 54 in a visit to South Los Angeles on Friday, as Gov. Gray Davis compared the recall to the 2000 Florida election controversy that denied Gore the presidency.

Also Friday, Sen. Tom McClintock backed off a threat to boycott the only debate featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger after the organizers ``clarified'' the rules of the event.

McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, and Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante were threatening to hold their own event elsewhere in protest because the debate questions were given to the candidates in advance.

McClintock agreed to participate after getting assurances that most of the event Wednesday will be unscripted. Bustamante's campaign did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Gore joined Davis in South Los Angeles at the headquarters of an African-American voter registration project that said it had signed up more than 6,000 Democratic voters in Los Angeles during the recall campaign.

Davis introduced Gore as ``the man who should have been president in 2000 and may well someday be president in the future.''

``What's happening in California really began when they tried to impeach Bill Clinton after they couldn't beat him in '96 - when they tried to stop and did stop the vote count in Florida, because this man, Al Gore, had already gotten more votes than George Bush,'' Davis said.

``Now they're coming out to California and trying to overturn an election they lost fair and square.''

Gore avoided referring to Florida directly, but said the election was about bigger issues than just Davis' performance in office. Instead, it was about the principles of democracy and respecting the election last year that gave Davis his second term.

``This is about a very large struggle in our country,'' Gore said. ``It is a struggle over the future of self-government.''

Gore and Davis also asked the crowd to oppose Proposition 54, the initiative that would prohibit the state from collecting most forms of racial data.

Elsewhere in the state, McClintock backed off his threat to boycott after a walk-through of the debate site with campaign staffers Friday morning.

``We're happy and we're participating,'' said McClintock deputy campaign director John Stoos.

Officials with the California Broadcasters Association insisted that they did not change the rules, but simply clarified them.

The questions will be read in random order and one of the five invited candidates will be selected at random to give a prepared, one-minute response to each question. After that, they will have a five-way free-ranging discussion of the issue, moderated by CBA President Stan Statham.

``It basically would be like a discussion in your living room,'' said CBA Vice President Mark Powers. ``It was always meant to be a five-way conversation. From Day One we said you can't possibly script a five-way conversation.''

The debate will occur from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday on the campus of California State University, Sacramento, and is expected to be broadcast live by television stations throughout the state.

At Los Angeles City College on Friday, Bustamante called for the state to roll back the $7-per-credit-hour increase imposed this year in community college fees.

Based on an analysis of past fee increases, the Community College League of California expects 123,000 students to drop their plans to attend one of the state's 108 community colleges.

Bustamante's budget proposal includes $90 million to reverse the fee increase and $200 million to restore access and reopen closed classes. His plan calls for higher taxes on tobacco, alcohol and on the state's highest income tax bracket.

Staff Writer Lisa M. Sodders contributed to this report.

Harrison Sheppard, [phone]

harrison.sheppard(at)dailynews.com