Sparring For Advantage Dole On Offensive, Clinton Unruffled During First Debate
In a presidential debate that Bob Dole badly needed to win, the Republican challenger jabbed and poked and attacked President Clinton on everything from jobs to broken promises.
Clinton stuck to the questions, stuck to his message and argued that Americans are doing better than they were when he took office.
“We are better off than we were four years ago. Let’s keep it going,” said Clinton.
Dole countered, “He’s better off than he was four years ago. Saddam Hussein probably is better off than he was four years ago.”
In 90 minutes of back-and-forth responses, Dole set out to rattle Clinton and convince voters that his campaign, mired for months in second place, deserves a closer look. He consistently took the offensive.
Clinton, ahead by double digits, needed to stay out of trouble. Showing unusual discipline, the normally loquacious Clinton stuck to the message that the economy is better - and the country is in better hands - with a Democrat in the White House.
For many Americans, the year-long campaign boiled down to the 90 minutes at the Bushnell Theater here, giving them a sideby-side comparison for the first time.
Dole needed to convince Americans that Clinton has done a poor job and that the country is not better off after four years under his administration. At the same time, he needed to make skeptical Americans feel comfortable about him.
Top Dole supporters were exuberant after the debate. Republican National Committee chairman Haley Barbour said Dole kept focused on the issues and made Clinton defend his record. “That’s a huge plus for Dole. People don’t like that liberal record,” Barbour said.
Dole campaign manager Scott Reed said Dole was humorous and very forward-looking and that the entire evening was a defining moment for the campaign. “We had a great night. I thought Bill Clinton was on the defensive. This is a great way to kick off the week.”
Not surprisingly, Clinton aides thought the president was the victor and kept Dole on the defensive. White House aides said Clinton spoke of the future and Dole of the past.
“Senator Dole kept picking at different programs, criticizing different approaches but never quite got it together about what he wanted to do for the country,” said White House chief of staff Leon Panetta. “Senator Dole is still struggling to figure out how to build a bridge to the past.”
Dole frequently made the audience - and Clinton - laugh. When Dole said he got a call from a trial lawyer before he hit the ground when he fell from a podium in California, Clinton threw his head back in laughter.
Halfway through the debate the mannerly exchanges between Clinton and Dole turned personal. Dole compared Clinton to his deceased brother, Kenny, who he said was a great talker who used to “tell me things that I knew were not quite accurate.”
Clinton, responding to Dole’s criticisms of increased teen use of illegal drugs, shot back with a reference to his brother’s past drug problems: “My family has suffered from drug abuse. I hate drugs, Senator.”
Clinton rested his pitch largely on his record and borrowed heavily from Ronald Reagan’s reelection tactic in 1984 by portraying America as better off than it was four years before.
He pictured Dole as someone out of step with the needs of ordinary Americans. He noted, for example, that Dole voted against the creation of Medicare, the family leave law and the Brady Bill requiring a waiting period for handgun purchases.
Dole made a dual pitch of issues and personal character. He brought to the debate the American GI who dragged him, wounded, from a battlefield in World War II. He said he knows better than most that “sometimes you can’t go it alone. That is what America is all about.”
Dole defended his support of Medicare, saying his mother made him promise not to cut Social Security and Medicare. “I wouldn’t violate anything my mother said,” the Republican said, adding, “Stop scaring the seniors, Mr. President.”
Dole repeatedly tried to put Clinton on the defensive. He asked him point-blank whether he intended to pardon his Whitewater real estate deal partners Susan and James McDougal, who have been convicted of crimes.
“There has been no consideration of it, no discussion of it,” the president responded. “I will not give anyone special treatment, and I will strictly adhere to the law.”
Dole tried to paint Clinton as a liberal politician by repeatedly bringing up his sweeping health care reform plan, which failed in 1994.
“I think his liberal vision is a thing of the past,” Dole said. “I know he wants to disown it … I wouldn’t want to be a liberal either, Mr. President, but you’re stuck with it because that’s your record.”
It was the first of their two debates - they will meet again in San Diego on Oct. 16.
Here is a brief look at some of the issues debated:
Drugs
Dole criticized Clinton for an increase in drug use by teenagers in the past four years. Clinton shot back with a reference to his brother’s problems with drugs: “My family has suffered from drug abuse. I hate drugs, Senator.”
Crime
“This is a safer country,” bragged Clinton, pointing to his 1994 crime bill that promises to add 100,000 police to the nation’s streets. The bill banned 19 assault weapons and instituted the death penalty for drug kingpins. He also pointed to the Brady Bill whose waiting period has kept 60,000 criminals from buying handguns, and criticized Dole for opposing both measures.
Dole insisted he has a better idea than the Brady Bill, an instant computer check that would keep criminals from buying any gun. He said a computer in Washington has 20 million names of people who shouldn’t own guns. Said Dole: “You walk in, you put your little card in there, if it says ‘tilt,’ you don’t get any gun.”
Foreign policy
Dole criticized Clinton’s foreign policy, recalling that U.S. soldiers were killed in Somalia because “they didn’t have the weapons, they didn’t have the tanks.” He said Haiti recently called for more U.S. troops because the original U.S. mission there has failed to stem violence and said Clinton would fail to withdraw U.S. troops from Bosnia within one year as promised.
Clinton said, “I take full responsibility for what happened in Somalia. Let’s not forget that hundreds of thousands of lives were saved there.” He said it was a “virtual miracle” that there was no war in Bosnia and boasted that “there are no nuclear weapons pointed at the children of our country.”
Cuba
Dole accused Clinton of being soft on Fidel Castro, saying he delayed for six months implementation of a law giving people the right to sue Cuba. “We have not been firm and strong,” Dole said. “We don’t have a firm policy when it comes to Fidel Castro. In my view, the policy has failed.”
Clinton insisted he had cranked up pressure on Castro’s regime, including tightening a trade embargo. He also said he hoped to increase contacts with Cuban people through direct telephone service. “If we stay firm and strong,” Clinton said, “we will be able to bring Cuba around as well.”
Education
Dole said he favors eliminating the federal Education Department. Clinton said he had worked hard to expand public school choice and charter schools, which are free of many bureaucratic rules. The president said private voucher plans should be at local levels, not the national level. He accused Dole of voting against Head Start programs and funds for safe and drug-free schools.