POLITICAL WINDS SHIFT FROM BUSH TO GORE.(MAIN)

Byline: RICHARD L. BERKE New York Times

WASHINGTON -- In barely a week, Republicans and Democrats have switched places in a striking reversal. After looming over the race for months as the man to beat, Texas Gov. George W. Bush suddenly seemed not so invincible.

And after months of reinvention, after months of reassuring restive Democrats, Vice President Al Gore was, if not on top, certainly on the offensive.

The shift was prompted largely by opinion surveys showing that Gore had pulled even with Bush after the Democratic convention.

But where the contenders stand today is much less important than where they will stand after Labor Day. In …