Campaign Trail

California here we come

SAN FRANCISCO

Haley Barbour, chairman of the Republican National Committee, says his party will spend 20 percent of its $20 million national advertising budget on a tough California campaign - and hinted Whitewater could be part of it.

Barbour, architect of the Republican Party’s message and a chief strategist of the 1994 Republican Revolution, said in a wide-ranging interview Wednesday that Gen. Colin Powell had been asked to participate in the GOP convention in August and that no decision had been made on a speaking invitation to Pat Buchanan.

Barbour insisted that California, which favors President Clinton by as much as 20 points in the polls, was a state the GOP intended to win, and that Bob Dole would return here June 16 for a three- to four-day visit.

A generic personal story?

Dole acknowledged Thursday that his campaign has been forced to get a little creative in maneuvering around federally mandated spending limits.

In a question-and-answer session with television executives, Dole explained that he can legally run ads using Republican Party money as long as they promote the GOP and don’t explicitly tout his candidacy.

“It’s called generic. It’s not ‘Bob Dole for President,”’ Dole said, via satellite hookup, to the Orlando, Fla., meeting of ABC network affiliates.

He cited a Republican National Committee ad airing in Florida that tells “the Bob Dole story.”

“It never says that I’m running for president, though I hope that it’s fairly obvious, since I’m the only one in the picture,” Dole continued.

The running Nunn?

WASHINGTON

Reports that Dole might pick Democratic Sen. Sam Nunn as his running mate have both sides laughing.

“I do think a Dole-Nunn ticket would probably unite both Democrats and Republicans across America,” Nunn said Thursday. “They would be united in fury.”

But seriously, folks. “Senator Dole and I have never even talked about this. I am a Democrat and I support President Clinton,” Nunn told a morning press conference.

Rumors that Dole, the Republican presidential candidate, could consider Nunn for the coveted vice presidential spot began last weekend with a report in U.S. News and World Report.

Quote of the day

“I think there’s a passion burning somewhere inside me, but some people display it in different ways.”

Bob Dole, who has been criticized for being stiff on the campaign trail and sometimes clumsy in articulating his “vision” for the nation, suggesting Thursday that voters need to look deeper.

Cheap-shot housing

WASHINGTON

In a fresh overture to the middle class, President Clinton offered to shave $200 off the cost of buying many homes Thursday, calling it a step toward achieving the American dream.

But Dole’s campaign immediately dismissed the idea as “chump change” and said if Clinton were truly interested in lowering such costs, he would back a balanced budget amendment.

Clinton fired back by saying Congress ought to fashion a balanced budget from two plans proposed by Democrats and Republicans and “let the voters resolve the differences.”