Lugar Announces Bid For Presidency

Saying he could offer Americans “a leader they can trust,” Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., Wednesday formally launched his long-shot presidential campaign with promises to replace the federal income tax with a national sales tax and to reassert U.S. leadership around the world.

“We must again have a president who understands and knows how to deal with the world around us,” Lugar, 63, told a friendly lunch-hour crowd at the downtown Market Square of the city he once led as mayor. “In a Lugar administration, Americans will have confidence that their president is up to the job.”

Despite his trademark mild manner, Lugar’s half-hour address was laced with caustic criticism of President Clinton for failing to provide a moral example or steady leadership.

The fact that the Indiana Republican announcing his presidential bid was Lugar and not former Vice President Dan Quayle illustrates the topsy-turvy development of the Republican contest. Several of the bestknown possible contenders - Quayle, former Housing Secretary Jack Kemp and former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney among them - decided not to run, opening the field to Lugar and others. He is the eighth candidate in the race.

Quayle, who lives in a nearby suburb, was not on hand for Lugar’s announcement. He said Tuesday he was supporting Lugar but not endorsing him, explaining, “George Bush and I are going to stay on the sidelines, cheering for all of them.”

Lugar is widely respected as a fourterm senator who has been influential in shaping U.S. policy toward Russia, the Persian Gulf, South Africa, the Philippines and elsewhere. But he faces skepticism over whether he is dynamic enough to become a credible contender.

“The guy is a terrific senator and a statesman when we don’t have many, but I just don’t see it,” said Charles Cook, editor of a non-partisan Washington-based newsletter, the Cook Political Report. “He’s too dignified to be a good candidate.”