GENE RANDALL, CNN ANCHOR: Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore's wife, Tipper, is celebrating her 52nd birthday today on the campaign trail. Gore and his running mate, Joseph Lieberman, are on a postconvention swing through the nation's heartland. Covering the trip for us is Pat Neal, and she is in Dubuque, Iowa -- Pat.</s>PAT NEAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The crowds gathering here in Dubuque, Iowa, standing by for the vice president's rally, which is expected to begin within hour. Now Dubuque was founded back in the 1700s, primarily then a fur trading town and a land mining town. It's best known for its spectacular river views. And with that backdrop, the vice president is expected to focus on the nation's environment. It is day two of the Gore campaign's trek down the Mississippi. It is a 400-mile trip that's started yesterday in Wisconsin. And along the way, we are stopped stopping in what Gore believes are some key battleground stays that may determines this election. Stops were made yesterday in Wisconsin, will be made today in Iowa. We later move on to Illinois and Missouri. The trip ends Monday in Hannibal, Missouri, which is Mark Twain's home town. Along way people gathered on...</s>NEAL: ... to vice president, and also from boats that were following along. And on board, Gore and Lieberman held a mini town hall meeting, talking with Wisconsin voters about health care, the nation's health care system. They will focus on different issues on different days. One day will be the middle-class tax cuts. Now absent from the campaign today will be vice presidential Joe Lieberman. He is observing the Jewish sabbath. He will rejoin the campaign tomorrow, and that means he is going to miss a birthday party for vice president's wife, Tipper Gore. That will in Clinton, Iowa. And one point we want to make, it's also President Clinton's birthday. Pat Neal, CNN, reporting live from Dubuque, Iowa.
Gore and His Runningmate Joseph Lieberman on a Postconvention Swing Through Nation's Heartland