Bush counters attacks on his record in
Texas
By DAVID IVANOVICH
Copyright 2000 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- George W. Bush on Sunday defended his
record in the governor's mansion, arguing that if the presidential
race turns on how effective he has been in Texas, "I'll win by a
landslide."
The Republican presidential hopeful has come under fire from his
Democratic rival, Vice President Al Gore, over administration of
a school lunch program in the Lone Star State.
Gore, in a campaign stop in Baltimore on Saturday, pointed to a
report showing that $33 million in federal money, which could
have been used to feed up to 1 million Texas schoolchildren, went
unused by the Texas Department of Human Services.
"Let's tell him to leave the mess in Texas," Gore said in campaign
literature.
Bush, appearing on ABC's This Week Sunday, argued that a look
at July, rather than June figures, shows Texas ranking higher than
the national average in signing up children for the summer food
program.
(Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett said later that Bush meant to say
the June numbers were higher than the national average.).
Bush also downplayed projections of a budget squeeze in two
Texas programs, which could drain $610 million from the state's
$1 billion surplus. Gore insists that Bush's $1.7 billion tax-cutting
plan caused the predicament.
Bush argued that if his record in Texas "were so bad, why have
the people of Texas re-elected me to become the governor? I'm
the first governor to ever be re-elected to back-to-back four-year
terms."
Bush added that Gore's attacks are turning people off. "People do
not like the politics of tearing people down," he said.
Gore was busy Sunday defending his own record during a dueling
interview on NBC's Meet the Press.
Since his days in the Senate representing Tennessee, Gore has
changed his position on abortion. While a senator he described
abortion as "arguably the taking of human life." Now he is a
supporter of abortion rights.
"I talked to a lot of women, who taught me about the kinds of
circumstances that can come up and the kinds of dilemmas that
women can face," Gore said. "I've come to the very deep
conviction that a woman's right to choose must be protected
regardless of the woman's income."
Bush, meanwhile, is under pressure from the religious right not to
pick an abortion rights supporter such as Pennsylvania Gov. Tom
Ridge as his vice presidential running mate.
Bush said he gets "all kinds of interesting advice" but has not ruled
out any candidate for the No. 2 job.
"This is a pick that is based upon two very important criteria: Can
the person be the president?" Bush said. "And secondly, will there
be a compatibility? Can we get along? Will the person be added
value?"
Gore also tried to counter criticism of his Social Security plan,
which calls for handling a massive influx of baby-boomer retirees
without raising taxes or cutting benefits.
His proposal assumes budget surpluses for the next several
decades. Gore argued that both government and industry
economists "say that's the safest assumption."
Political strategist and former Clinton adviser Dick Morris.,
appearing on Fox News Sunday, said both Bush and Gore would
get a boost from their conventions. But Bush will emerge with a
7-to-10-point lead in the polls.
"Then all fall, through each of the debates, Gore is going to gain
week after week. And it will be a photo-finish at the end," Morris
said. |
