10A
Wednesday, August 19, 1992
CAMPAIGN'92
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Republicans playing campaign hardball
The Associated Press
HOUSTON — Republicans are launching George Bush's political comeback with hardball attacks that define Bill Clinton as a pot-smoking, gay-right supporter, an untrustworthy governor with a radical wife. He'll sock you with higher taxes and then gut the Pentagon.
And more. Slick Willie, the liberal disguised as a moderate. The skirt-chaser. The draft dodger.
Those were the buzzwords and they set an harshly combative tone for Bush's campaign as the Republican National Convention got underway.
It's a far cry from the question posed by Ronald Reagan when he sought a second term. His was a proud battle cry: "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" With unemployment at 7.7 percent and one in 10 Americans on food stamps, that's the last question voters will hear from Houston this week.
Sen. Phil Gramm and Jack Kemp were the big-name Republicans selling negative spin in prime-time television convention addresses Tuesday evening, just as Ronald Reagan and Pat Buchanan were the stars on Monday night.
"We talked to ten millions of Americans last night in undiluted fashion and, I think, drove a message that appeals to the vast
majority of the American people." Republican National Chairman Richard Bond said.
The Democrats are quick to respond this week, ever mindful of 1988 when Dukakis took the Republican punches and disappeared in the polls.
"They can't run on their economic record. They can't run on the fact that George Bush broke his pledge on taxes. They can't run on the fact that the economy is dead in the water," said Clinton communications chief George Stephanopoulos. "They have a track record of negative campaigning and it's all they know how to do. The American people aren't going to be fooled this time by a ready-lips, Willy Horton campaign."
Tough tactics eliminated Michael Dukakis' 17-point convention lead and placed him forever on the defensive. Dukakis was defined in voters' minds as a card-carrying member of the American Civil Liberties Union who veted a bill to let school kids say the Pledge of Allegiance.
Bush says he can change voters' minds. But many believe he'll have to give one of the best speeches of his life to resurrect his candidate, accepts the nomination on Thursday night.
Republicans cemented the image of Dukakis as a governor responsible for a prison furlough system that allowed a convicted murder to get a weekend pass and then rape a Maryland woman. The strategy did not define a vision of a Bush presidency as much as it convinced Americans that Dukakis was not the man to sit in the Oval Office.
good when he sat in a military tank and looked like nobody's vision of a commander-in-chief.
Of course Dukakis didn't do himself much
Republicans are convinced the 1988 tactics will be good medicine again for a president who, one more time, is trailing behind the Democratic nominee anywhere from 17 to 20 points.
"For the next 78 days, we're going to go out there to ask the American people a simple question: Who do you trust to do what's right with America?" Bush said as he arrived here.
Yet, many Republicans emphasize that negative attacks are not enough. They believe Bush must spell out a convincing agenda for a second term and give voters a good reason to send him back for four more years.
So far, the president hasn't done that, and to the dismay of the White House, most Americans — today, anyway — believe that Clinton is better equipped than Bush to bring about the changes that voters are demanding.
Republicans hope negative attacks can change the debate away from economic woes and other problems.
HOUSTON — Four years ago, Dan Quayle joked before the Republican National Convention that he had no illusions about his national reputation. He didn't have one.
Quayle's image will improve Republican officials predict
The Associated Press
Today, the vice president begins a new convention hoping to restore a bruised and battered image derided by late-night comedians and defined often by gaffes rather than accomplishments.
His Indiana friends — many of whom have known him so long and so well they still call him Danny — believe Quayle already has started to polish his image.
And they hope the vice president, who is expected to greet the Indiana delegation on the convention floor today, will continue to build his reputation this week by showing the nation what he's demonstrated to his Indiana friends over the years.
"I still think eventually Dan will work his way out of it, and people will respect him for his hard work and intellect," said William Neale, a law school classmate who introduced Dan Quayle to his wife, Marilyn. "But it's going to take some time."
John W. Sweezy, Marion County GOP chairman, said Quayle has become more polished and more at ease.
"He's always been a lot more impressive when you get to know him." Sweeter said
Other Republicans believe Quayle's speeches about family values hit home with the public.
But Quayle's Indiana friends understand that his reputation, built at least in part on such gaffes as his misspelling of 'potato' as 'patotee' and his attack of fictional television journalist Murphy Brown, won't be easy to change.
"A check of a lot of the general public liked what he said," said state Republican Chairman Rex Early.
Sweezy said Quable's assertiveness this year made him a real asset to George Bush.
"He articulate, and a hell of a lot of people agree with what he says," Early said.
Despite polls earlier this summer showing substantial sentiment for dumping Quayle from the ticket, Indiana Republicans contend that most officials in the party like Quayle.
"You hear all that talk about Quayle but then you come down here and the people here are not neutral about Quayle." Early said, referring to Houston "They're enthusiastic about Quayle."
Clinton Democrats counter GOP onslaught
Clinton fires back
The Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Bill Clinton and the Democrats returned the Republicans' fire on multiple fronts Tuesday, releasing harsh TV ads and mocking a Republican pledge to tend to the homefront as a Columbus theory for discovering America.
The Democratic nominee, in Arkansas working on his state budget, refused to sit still for the onslaught coming out of the GOP national convention in Houston.
"They're mired in yesterday," Clinton said, responding to opening night scorpion heaped on him by Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.
Clinton said their personal attacks showed how impoverished they are of ideas.
Clinton aide George Stephanopoulos compared the Republican pair to Hollywood movies. "Pat Buchanan is 'Cape Fear' and Ronald Reagan is 'The Way We Were,'" he said.
The Democrats released two television ads slamming Bush's economic record and bought billboards near the Astrodome in Houston to remind delegates of Bush's broken 1982 pledge: "Read My Lips — No New Taxes."
The 15-second spots, paid for by the Democratic National Committee and approved by Clinton's team, were to begin airing Tuesday night on stations in Houston and Washington.
The rapid Democratic response marked a dramatic change from 1988, when Michael Dukakis practically dropped from sight during the GOP convention, where he was tarred as an ultra-liberal, soft on crime and eager to raise taxes.
Republican rule for three presidential terms caused the nation's economic troubles, Clinton said.
"You talk about slick," Clinton said, responding to GOP remarks Monday night. "These guys have talked about how prudent they were, and they have presided over the 10 biggest deficits in American history."
"Now they're asking for a fourth term. Now we will discover America in our fourth term — sort of a Columbus theory of politics," Clinton said, mocking a rival pledge to tend to America now that the Cold War is over.
At Monday night's festivities in Houston, GOP speakers suggested the Democratic nominee would raise taxes.
cost the country jobs and gut the nation's defense.
"And now a short break for the facts," an announcer says in one of the new Democratic TV spots. "On Nov. 5, 1990, George Bush signed the second-biggest tax increase in American history. Under Bill Clinton, Arkansas has the second-lowest tax burden per person in the country.
Those are the facts, back to the snow. The second Democratic ad is similar, saying America's job growth has been at a standstill under Bush, while Arkansas' rate growth led the nation last year.
In Houston, the Republicans promptly produced Gov. Carroll Campbell of South Carolina and Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico to dispute the Clinton campaign ads. Campbell called them "a quick break from the truth."
"If they had any credibility, we would worry about them," he said at the end of a 20-minute rebuttal news conference, "but since they're so easy to shoot down, maybe they ought to do some more."
Campbell said that Clinton promised in 1986 not to raise taxes in Arkansas and that there have been 36 increases since "Thirty six to one," he said of Bush's read-my-lips new taxes in 1988, followed by the tax increase of 1990.
Vice President Dan Quayle ridiculed the ads, telling Michigan delegates, "Guess what issue he picked? He picked the issue of taxes. Thank you, Bill Clinton." He charged that Clinton wants to "raise taxes for every single worker in America."
Clinton's campaign also issued a "Republican Lie Meter" to tally what it called inaccuracies coming out of Houston. Clinton aides said that on Day One, they uncovered 16 lies on taxes; seven lies about the Arkansas record and seven lies about jobs; but the campaign did not identify what they were.
Clinton spent part of the afternoon fielding questions on satellite TV interviews, repeating over and over that he had expected the Republican attack because Bush had no record to run on.
"They know they've got the worst economic record in 50 years." Clinton told one station.
He told reporters in Little Rock he thought Buchanan, who drew boos from the Houston crowd when he attacked Hillary Clinton as a radical feminist, was full of venom.
"Pat Buchanan in his life has never done as much as Hillary has to strengthen families, children," Clinton said. "The very idea that he could stand up there attacking her shows you how impoverished they are of ideas, how out of touch they are."
The Clintons traveled to Atlanta, where they joined Al and Tipper Gore for an informal dinner with former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalyn. The three Southern families ate in shirtsleeves at Manuel's Tavern, a local political hangout, and talked about the "Habitat for Humanity" home-building project they planned to work on Wednesday morning.
Where Bush, Clinton stand on key issues Health care
- Bush favors a system of tax credits and deductions for middle-income families and the poor to help pay health insurance costs. Families below the poverty line would receive up to $3,750 either as voucher or as credit subtracted from their tax bill. Those earning up to $70,000 annually could deduct up to $3,750 from their taxable income for health insurance or unreimbursed medical bills.
Clinton favors a public/public insurance plan for all Americans, commonly called "play or pay" in which employers and employees purchase private insurance or opt to buy into a public program by which the poor and unemployed would be covered; supports enacting the Reproductive Health Equity Act to increase the health care resources available to women.
Environment and energy
Bush proposes to budget $700 million for wetlands protection in 1993, proposes no net loss of wetlands but wants a definition of wetlands that won't "overburden" private property owners; opposes initiatives to address global warming at this time; proposes a National Energy Strategy that provides investment incentives for renewable energy technologies to encourage a reduction in America's dependence on oil.
- Clinton favors no net loss of wetlands; proposes a national energy conservation strategy, including increasing fuel efficiency requirements; supports federal tax incentives for renewable energy resources.
Abortion
- Bush opposes abortion, except in cases of rape incest or when the mother's life is endangered; vetoed legislation that would have overturned the "gag" rule, which bans abortion counseling by federally funded family-planning clinics.
- Clinton supports abortion rights; opposes the "gag" rule; supports federal funding for abortion for low-income women; opposes consuls consent laws. As governor, he signed a law providing for parental notification, but his campaign staff said he has revised his position.
Economy and taxes
■ Bush supports slashing capital gains tax; providing a $5,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers; increasing personal tax exemptions by $500 per dependent child for every family; eliminating 246 federal programs to cut federal spending; allowing penalty-free withdrawals from individual retirement accounts to pay for medical and educational expenses.
- Clinton supports cutting middle-class taxes by 10 percent and increasing the taxes of those earning more than $200,000; replacing the current $2,150 dependent's tax exemption with up to an $800 per-child tax credit; accelerating current highway spending to create jobs; opening the housing market to poor and middle-income buyers by creating special savings accounts with matching federal funds and lifting the cap on Federal Housing Administration loans; expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit to create a working wage that would ensure that no American working full-time would fall below the poverty level.
Education
■ Bush supports voucher-like system of choice in educational system for all families; favors voluntary standardized national exams; favors using public money to cover tuition at private schools to promote equity; supports awarding some scholarships on the basis of race.
- Clinton supports funding Head Start for every child; establishing a national examination system and annual national report card; creating a low-interest national trust fund for students who cannot afford higher education; supports a Gi bill-type of program in which young adults trade community service for a college or vocational school education.
Defense
■ Bush proposes a $50 billion cut in defense spending over the next five years; supports increased funding for Star Wars; opposes additional funding for the production of peace-keeping missiles; favors ending production of the B-2 bomber and MX missile.
- Clinton favors cutting defense spending by one-third over five years; supports research and development only on missile defense within the framework of the anti-ballistic missile treaty; favors stopping production of the B-2 bomber; favors forming a new advanced research agency to provide employment for the human fallout from defense cuts.
Knight-Ridder Tribune
Media bashing is hot sport at GOP convention
TThe Associated Press
Mrs. Bush complained about what she believed was disgusting and despicable coverage of allegations that President Bush had an affair. And Bond angrily crumpled a copy of the Houston Chronicle containing a story about Vice President Dan Quayle.
HOUSTON — Republicans are angry and not just at Bill Clinton and the Democrats. Barbara Bush and GOP Chairman Rich Bond led an attack Tuesday on a target closer at hand: the reporters covering their convention.
South Carolina Gov. Carroll Campbell complained that the news media have become a distorted mirror on America. Delegates — at least some of them — have complained loudly and bitterly about coverage of the campaign and the convention.
Republican complaints about press coverage are nothing new, but they have been escalating this year as stories have focused on Bush's fall in the election. Presidentinton's rise Media bashing has become a subtheme of the convention.
Some reporters have taken to wearing buttons saying, "It's All My Fault. I'm in the Media."
Not everyone agrees that coverage has been unfair. Among a sampling of delegates interviewed on the convention floor Tuesday, a substantial minority believed the news media had been fair.
But Lester Firstenberger, a Tennessee delegate, said that television reporters in particular try to put their bias or liberal spin on their coverage. But the media as they might, the media isn't able to message of the party from getting out."
"I would give the media a b Grade in general," Ernest Drenenburg Jr. of California said. "I think they really do try to be fair ... the press, since Watergate, has been very adversarial. But I don't think they're any more adversarial toward Republicans than Democrats."
Ed Turner, executive vice president of Cable News Network, said he thought coverage had been fair and that relations between Republicans and reporters had mostly been cordial.
"I was in San Francisco in 1964 when
Eisenhower shook his fist at the Huntley-Brinkley anchor booth, and I remember the crowd roared with hatred. There hasn't been anything like that this time," Turner said.
Mrs. Bush made her complaints during an interview with CNN, "I think it is been a despicable year" she said. "Honestly, you should be ashamed of themselves."
Bond was angry over a Chronicle article titled "Quayle tries to play up martyr role." The story, buried deep inside the Houston newspaper, was about Quayle's response to jokes and criticism.
"That's a little less than even-handed. OK?" the GOP chairman said.
The Chronicle's political editor, Jim Simmon did not agree.
About Republican criticism in general, Simmon said, "I understand from their point of view that there has been a cascade of negative stories at a time when Bush appears on the ropes. I understand their defensiveness, but I don't necessarily agree."
"We thought the story and the headline were both fair," he said. "We were never clear about what his problem was."
Rather only anchor not to be granted interview with Bush
A 1988 meeting caused thousands to angrily phone CBS
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Dan Rather is the only network news anchor at the Republican National Convention to be denied an interview with President George Bush, CBS News Vice President Joseph Petruvni said Tuesday.
Peyronin said that Rather, who conducted a volatile Bush interview in 1988 that made instant history, has been rejected by White House press staff on a continuous basis.
network has no intention of doing so, he said. One report said campaign officials had requested Connie Chung.
"It's my understanding that if we provided someone else, they would do the interview." Peyronnin said. His
Repeated phone calls to the White House press office in Houston were not returned.
"We make our decisions as to how we want to interview President Bush," Peyronin said.
Monday's broadcast of the "NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw" carried a bus interview. ABC's Peter Jennings is scheduled to talk with the GOP president candidate Wednesday.
Peyronin said CBS will continue to ask daily for a Bush interview. "We are hopeful that our request will be granted," he said. "We have made it very clear that we are committed to fair, independent and accurate coverage of this convention." he said.
White House rejection of Rather comes during widespread journalist-bashing at the Astrodome, where delegates are sporting T-shirts declaring "Blame It on the Media" and "CBS News Rather Biased."
Rather's live "CBS Evening News" interview of then-Vice President Bush during his bid for the presidency prompted national headlines and thousands of angry calls to CBS.
Under questioning about the Iran-Contra arms sales, Bush became angry and accused Rather of acting unprofessionally. The combative interview lasted 10 minutes, extraordinarily long for a network newscast. It was preceded by a five-minute taped report that suggested Bush had a bigger role in the Iran-Contra affair than he had acknowledged.