Alexander Campaigns In N. Idaho Gop Presidential Contender Also Is Busy Raising Money

For years, former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander came here as a tourist. On Wednesday, the two-term governor returned, this time as a presidential candidate.

“I’m here to offer the voters of the northwestern part of the United States a choice from the real world outside Washington, D.C.,” the Republican candidate told reporters at the Coeur d’Alene airport.

He also was in town to raise money. Alexander kicked off a West Coast tour with a Hayden Lake Country Club fund-raiser Wednesday night. Supporters paid $250 to $1,000 each.

Traveling by chartered Lear jet, Alexander will head to Seattle today and San Francisco tonight.

“Most of the activity of the presidential campaign so far has been fund raising,” he said.

Alexander, a former secretary of education under George Bush, said he has raised $7 million in his bid for the White House and expects to have $8 million by the end of the month.

Alexander’s mother-in-law, 74-year-old Bette-Jo Buhler, spends summers at her family home on Hayden Lake. Her father, Jess Ray Simpson, was mayor of Coeur d’Alene in 1931 and 1932. Alexander said he and his wife, Honey, often have visited the home.

Despite his two years as education secretary and an earlier stint as a Nixon White House staffer, Alexander is painting himself as a candidate from outside the Washington Beltway.

He vowed to be “a president who is part of the people’s revolution” when he announced his candidacy April 30, standing at a Tennessee county courthouse wearing a faded flannel shirt. He had worn the shirt in 1978, walking 1,000 miles throughout the state while campaigning for governor.

Alexander will wear the shirt again during an 80-mile walk across New Hampshire starting July 6, he said Wednesday. That walk is expected to take two to three weeks.

Most political handicappers view Alexander as a third-place contender for the GOP nomination behind Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas and Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas.

Alexander, not surprisingly, gives himself better odds. He said he thinks four candidates can raise enough money to be serious contenders for the GOP nomination: Dole, Gramm, himself and potential candidate California Gov. Pete Wilson.

“I think it will come down to Sen. Dole as the leader and me as the challenger by the end of the year,” he said. “And I think that’s not a bad choice for the party or for the country.”

Dole’s whole career has been in Washington, D.C. “I’ve been there (in Washington) long enough to get vaccinated, not infected,” he said.

Alexander said he wants Americans “to recapture our confidence” through job growth, stronger local government and more personal responsibility.

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