I'M RUNNING, BUSH SAYS; `I FINISH WHAT I START'

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 13, 1992                   TAG: 9202130089
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Fort Worth Star-Telegram
DATELINE: CONCORD, N.H.                                LENGTH: Medium
I'M RUNNING, BUSH SAYS; `I FINISH WHAT I START'
President Bush, combative and confident on his first day as an official candidate, urged voters Wednesday to reject the "stale ideas" of his opponents and challenged the Democrat-controlled Congress to "get moving" on his economic relief package.
The president formally entered the race at a rally in Washington and then headed for a round of campaigning in New Hampshire, site of the nation's first primary Tuesday.
"I came here to do important work, and I finish what I start," Bush told the partisan crowd of more than 1,000 at a hotel ballroom in Washington. His re-election announcement was interrupted 25 times by applause.
In New Hampshire, where he faces a hard-fought challenge from conservative Republican TV commentator Patrick Buchanan, Bush told the Legislature that his 2-week-old economic recovery plan could help put $120 million into the state's bedraggled economy.
He intensified pressure on Congress to enact key portions of the plan by March 20 to "begin the liberation of the American economy."
Bush's official declaration for re-election surprised no one; he has been campaigning unofficially since his re-election committee was set up in October. But the nationally televised rally was designed to boost his momentum in the face of low poll ratings caused by the nation's economic slowdown.
"Together, we'll get the economy up and running at full speed," Bush said. He promised to assert the same leadership to end the recession that he used during the Persian Gulf War.
Bush's opening day of campaigning was aimed at two audiences: New Hampshire residents, who will cast the first votes in the presidential race; and the national electorate, which has grown increasingly skeptical of his performance, according to polls.
In his address to the Legislature on Wednesday, Bush said his economic recovery package will help New Hampshire pull out of a prolonged slump by reviving the real estate market. Homeowner tax incentives in the plan, he said, are the equivalent of six months' mortgage payments for the average family.
Bush said he and Vice President Dan Quayle represent proven I fight to win. . . . I am determined to win, and I will win." President Bush Campaigning in New Hampshire leadership and sound principles, in contrast to what he described as an untested field of five Democrats and two Republican challengers.
"In 1992, the American people will decide what kind of leadership they want," Bush said. "They'll decide which team has the character, the experience and the toughness to make the important decisions.
Seeking to pre-empt Buchanan's appeal to the Republican right, Bush struck heavily at conservative themes such as family, patriotism and law and order. Government, he said, "is too big and it costs too much."
He also lashed out at trade protectionism and the new isolationism embraced by Buchanan's "America first" campaign.
Neo-isolationism, he said, constitutes "an economic retreat from reality" and "a smoke screen for a country that's running scared."
Buchanan, weeks, told The Associated Press he was not an isolationist and that Bush "wants to be president of the world, and I want to be president of the United States."
Keywords:
POLITICS

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB