In keeping with Bradley's focus on care, he also proposes an ambitious plan to end child poverty "as we know it." He proposes increasing the minimum wage to $6.15 an hour. He promises to spend federal education dollars to place 60,000 new teachers in poor and rural areas of the country. He also proposes to expand the earned income tax credit (which would allow poorer families to keep more of their money) and to provide tax credits and other incentives for affordable childcare.

Another chief focus of the Bradley campaign has been the reform of the national campaign finance system. He proposes requiring television stations to give election candidates free air time before the election and proposes public financing of Congressional elections. He also proposes ending the ability to give unlimited contributions to political parties, known as soft-money donations.

Bradley, in increasing his criticism of Gore in recent weeks, has criticized Gore's fundraising efforts during the 1996 campaign presidential campaign, which included the vice president holding a fundraiser in a Buddhist temple.

Race relations are another focus of the Bradley campaign.

"Race is one of the fundamental elements of my campaign. . . . It is who I am, it's what I live," he has said. In nearly every stump speech, Bradley says he has a deep commitment in furthering racial unity, which has been present since his days as a professional basketball player. As President, Bradley says he would sign an executive order ending racial profiling. He says he would work hard to maintain and expand affirmative action programs. And he says he would hold his staff accountable for their own commitment to racial justice.

However, despite this focus, Bradley has gained very little support among most black voters. Polls of southern black voters, a key Democratic constituency, shows they overwhelmingly support Al Gore.

Bill Bradley was born in 1943 in Crystal City, Mo., where he lived until he left to attend college at Princeton University. There, he was a star on the school's basketball team. After graduation in 1965, he attended Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship. He then had a successful 10 year career in the National Basketball Association, playing as guard for the New York Knicks. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982.

Bradley entered politics, running for and winning election as a U.S. Senator from New Jersey in 1978. He served in this position for three terms and retired into the private sector in 1996.