ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, August 13, 1996 TAG: 9608130082
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SAN DIEGO
SOURCE: Cox News Service
NOTE: Lede
Retired Gen. Colin Powell blessed Bob Dole's presidential campaign Monday night, but reasserted his own support for abortion rights, affirmative action and compassion for welfare recipients in a poignant opening night speech to the Republican National Convention.
Powell's address, which clashed sharply with the conservative platform adopted earlier in the day by the convention delegates, capped a tightly choreographed series of prime-time television events designed to present the Republican Party as a party of compassion.
The program also recalled the party's glory days, with appearances by former presidents Gerald Ford and George Bush and a rousing tribute to the party's icon, Ronald Reagan, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease.
The warmest applause from the festive delegates crowded into the small, awkward convention hall came when former first lady Nancy Reagan appeared on the podium to deliver greetings from the ex-president.
Powell's warm and personal endorsement of Dole - ``a man of strength, maturity and integrity'' - also contrasted with the pragmatic endorsement Dole received earlier in the day from arch-conservative rival Pat Buchanan.
Dole, who had failed to recruit Powell as his running mate, chose the retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to speak to the convention in an attempt to move the GOP from the right to the center of the political spectrum.
Powell acknowledged his differences with some of the positions expressed by the convention delegates in the 100-page platform, particularly the platform's opposition to abortion and to programs designed to ease discrimination against minorities.
``You all know that I believe in a woman's right to choose, and I strongly support affirmative action,'' he said. ``And I was invited here by my party to share my views with you because we are a big enough party - and big enough people - to disagree on individual issues and still work together for our common goal: restoring the American Dream.''
That remark sparked a round of boos from delegates seated in the Georgia and Texas sections of the hall. But the boos were quickly smothered by a standing ovation from a majority of the delegates.
But Powell drew sharp rebukes in reactions from conservative delegates, some of whom suggested that Powell, who only last fall declared his allegiance to the Republican Party, is not a true Republican.
``To me, he's more a Democrat than a Republican,'' said Charlotte Reed, a Buchanan delegate from Phoenix.
But Shirley Russell, an alternate delegate from Georgia, said, ``He's a born-again Republican - a great speech.''
Denver Gray, another Georgia alternate, said, ``He earned his spurs ... he showed his true colors.''
Dave Wheeler, a carpet installer from Milford, N.H., and a Buchanan delegate, said Powell's speech indicated that Dole and running mate Jack Kemp are trying to turn their back on the platform.
But, Wheeler added, ``we'll keep the pressure on the leadership. We'll be constantly reminding them of the platform.''
Powell touched on the economic message of tax cuts on which the Dole presidential campaign has bet its success, emphasizing that the GOP is the party committed to freedom and economic opportunity.
However, he reminded the delegates that ``in this richest nation on earth, we still have not solved the problems of poverty, of hunger, of poor health care, of inadequate housing, all of which tear away at the roots of strong families.''
Powell, recalling his roots as the son of immigrants, presented himself to the 1,990 GOP delegates as ``a fellow citizen who has lived the American Dream to the fullest.''
He spoke with authority about the strength of families and ``a value system founded on a clear understanding of the difference between right and wrong, and belief in the Almighty.''
But he also reminded the delegates of the Republican Party's roots in opposing slavery and called them to rally again to the cause of less fortunate Americans.
``It is our party, the party of Lincoln, that must always stand for equal rights and fair opportunity for all,'' he said. ``And where discrimination still exists or where the scars of discrimination contaminate the present, we must not close our eyes to it, declare a level playing field and hope it will go away by itself.''
While acknowledging that the country's welfare system needed changing, Powell insisted that reforms must be firm but fair.
``We have to make sure that reduced government spending does not single out just the poor and the middle class,'' he said. ``Corporate welfare and welfare for the wealthy must be first in line for elimination.''
Agreeing with the Republican Party's support for less government, Powell pushed it a step further and suggested that all Americans ``must be willing to do with less from government.''
Without specifically mentioning Social Security or Medicare, the two entitlement programs that benefit middle-class Americans, ``It is the entitlement state that must be reformed, and not just the welfare state.''
Powell did not mention President Clinton in his speech, but described Dole as a man ``who can bring trust back to government and bring Americans together again.''
He added: ``In an era of too much salesmanship and too much smooth talking, Bob Dole is a plain-spoken man.'' Powell also described Kemp as ``a man of passion and conviction, a caring man.''
LENGTH: Long : 108 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Disagreeing with parts of the GOP platform, retiredby CNBGen. Colin Powell tells the audience during the Republican National
Convention on Monday in San Diego that ``we are a big enough party
... to disagree on individual issues and still work together for our
common goal: restoring the American Dream.'' color. KEYWORDS: POLITICS PRESIDENT