ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 15, 1996 TAG: 9602150090
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MILFORD, N.H.
SOURCE: Associated Press
Pat Buchanan's ``America first'' trade and foreign policy views came under pointed criticism from three Republican presidential rivals Wednesday, attacks the commentator took as proof he was the man to beat in New Hampshire's pivotal primary.
Responding with confident defiance, Buchanan paid a Valentine's Day visit to a rose grower and said the business was being overwhelmed by foreign competition because of trade deals that please Wall Street but punish American workers.
Buchanan also was labeled ``too extreme'' in a new television ad aired by Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole's campaign. ``He can't beat Bill Clinton,'' says the ad.
Firing a fresh salvo of his own, Buchanan called Dole a ``big tax man who hasn't balanced a budget in his last 25 years in Congress.''
That Buchanan was at the center of the day's give-and-take was testament to his rising influence on the Republican race after strong showings in early battles in Louisiana and Iowa. Rival camps suggested Buchanan's positions would be a major focus in a televised candidates debate tonight.
``I have won the battle of Mr. Conservative in the Republican Party,'' Buchanan said on the day Texas Sen. Phil Gramm withdrew from the race.
In parting, Gramm said he wasn't ready to endorse a candidate. But he also wasn't ready to stop criticizing Buchanan and trade views that Gramm labeled protectionist and anathema to the free-trading Republican Party.
``When the voters speak, I listen,'' Gramm said in bowing out after back-to-back losses in Louisiana and Iowa.
Another candidate said he, too, was listening, but hardly ready to call it quits. On his first visit to New Hampshire after placing a distant fourth in Iowa, publishing heir Steve Forbes said he would stop attacking his opponents in television ads and return to a positive message anchored on his plan for a flat tax.
``I'm going to concentrate on getting my own message across,'' said Forbes., who appeared far more subdued than the confident candidate who left here for Iowa 10 days ago. He was riding high in the polls then, but has since been the target of voter backlash against negative advertising.
``It's just important you learn from your mistakes,'' Forbes said. He did smile when greeted by two women wearing halos of red and silver tinsel.
``After what's happened in the last two or three weeks I appreciate any valentine I can get,'' he said.
Over the past week, Forbes' standing has fallen significantly in New Hampshire. Campaign and other tracking polls showed Buchanan and Dole fighting for the lead five days before the primary. Forbes was slipping, but still in third place, a few points ahead of Alexander.
Hoping to gain more ground, Alexander trumpeted the endorsement of William Bennett, the former education secretary and author.
Bennett called Alexander ``the best man and now the only man in the race who can defeat Bill Clinton.''
On Tuesday, Dole labeled Alexander a liberal; Buchanan has consistently said Alexander is too moderate to win enough primary support.
Begging to differ, Alexander said he had presented ``a Republican conservative vision for the future.''
Both Alexander and Bennett attacked Buchanan, labeling his plans to cancel global trade deals and impose tariffs on foreign goods defeatist and potentially devastating to the economy.
``I have new ideas; Pat Buchanan has wrong ideas and I don't think Senator Dole has many ideas,'' Alexander told reporters in Milford, where he spent an hour strolling the town square greeting locals before an outdoor news conference in a steady snowfall.
Forbes clearly had Buchanan in mind in saying the United States cannot retreat from economic competition or promoting democracy.
``It was economic isolationism that gave us the Great Depression,'' Forbes said. ``It was diplomatic isolationism that gave us the Second World War.''
Sticking to his game plan, Dole made two campaign stops and not once mentioned a rival by name. But he tried to draw a clear contrast with Buchanan, Alexander and Forbes by urging voters to consider foreign and defense policy in picking a nominee.
``The presidency is not the right place for on-the-job training,'' Jeane Kirkpatrick, the former ambassador to the United Nations, said in introducing Dole.
Buchanan has called for ending most foreign aid programs and bringing home many of the American troops stationed abroad. But Dole, without mentioning Buchanan, said such a view was shortsighted given the unpredictability of world events. ``We have to understand that whether we like it or not, we are the leader of the free world,'' Dole said.
Dole's shaky win Monday in Iowa, where he barely got more than one-quarter of the vote, has rivals suggesting Dole is a fragile front-runner.
Seeking to put such talk to rest, Dole called in several GOP governors to campaign for him - and picked up endorsements from two more: Govs. William Weld of Massachusetts and George Allen of Virginia.
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, announces on Capitol Hillby CNBthat he is dropping out of the race. color. Graphic: Chart by AP.
color. KEYWORDS: POLITICS