ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, August 14, 1996 TAG: 9608140051
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SAN DIEGO
SOURCE: COX NEWS SERVICE
note: lede
A political pageant of prominent Republican women, led by Rep. Susan Molinari of New York, tried to boost Bob Dole's standing among wavering female voters Tuesday night with a blistering critique of President Clinton's economic record.
Molinari, a wife and new mother with a soaring political career, turned her keynote speech to the Republican National Convention into an emotional appeal to the typical working mother who is ``stretched to her limit.''
She promised support and relief through the 15 percent income tax cut and $500 child tax credit on which Dole has based his presidential campaign.
Molinari reminded the convention delegates - and a prime-time television audience of an estimated 24 million voters - that Clinton abandoned a middle-class tax cut and instead pushed through ``the biggest tax increase in history.''
Dole's economic program would benefit women and every other American ``who is working harder and taking home less,'' she said.
Molinari also touched on other issues that women regularly cite as important to them in public opinion polls, saying Dole's election would bring better schools, fiscally improved Medicare and Social Security systems, and ``common sense'' health care.
Without mentioning her own use of drugs as a youth, Molinari, 38, also urged Americans to elect a president ``with zero tolerance'' for drugs.
She drew a roar of laughter when she said Clinton's promises ``have the life span of a Big Mac on Air Force One.''
Molinari, a third-generation American, also spoke eloquently about ``the American Dream,'' marveling at how it had led her and, before her, her father into Congress and wondering what it might hold for her 3-month-old daughter, Susan Ruby.
``At the end of the day while I'm rocking Susan Ruby to sleep, I look down and wonder what her life will be like,'' she said. ``I want the best for her. I want a country free from danger, a nation and a world where she is free to believe in greatness and achieve her fullest potential.''
She expressed hope that her daughter's ``earliest memories'' would be of American leaders of character, of heroism, of big dreams, of people like Dole - ``the better man for a better America.''
Molinari was joined afterward on the podium by her husband, Rep. Bill Paxon of New York, while her beaming father, former Rep. Guy Molinari of New York, held Susan Ruby.
Molinari's appearance produced a televised image calculated to show that women are welcome in the Republican Party. Such an impression is crucial to Dole's electoral success. Dole currently trails Clinton by as many as 27 percentage points among women voters in some public opinion polls, largely as a result of efforts by the Republican-led Congress to cut social programs.
Consequently, Molinari was preceded on the podium by two other women who are rising stars in the Republican Party, Gov. Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas.
All three are political moderates within their party, and their prominent role Tuesday was intended to create the impression that women are welcome in a party that opposes abortion, affirmative action and government-sponsored day care.
Hutchison, led the delegation in criticism of Clinton.
Dole's wife, Elizabeth, paid a surprise visit to the hall and stayed for Molinari's keynote address. She was accompanied by Jack Kemp, Dole's choice for a running mate, and Kemp's wife, JoAnne, sparking one of the evening's more spirited demonstrations among the balloon- and placard-waving delegates.
Tuesday's program at the GOP convention also featured several video presentations featuring businesswomen with complaints about Clinton's tax treatment of small businesses.
In addition, women who have been victims of crime were featured both in videos and in podium speeches.
The program also included some of the party's most prominent governors contrasting their policies with Clinton's.
Gov. Jim Edgar of Illinois said Clinton's economic policies had ``created the wrong climate'' for small business - ``high taxes, oppressive regulations and intrusive government.''
Delegates hooted with glee as Gov. John Rowland of Connecticut showed them video clips from Clinton's 1992 campaign promising middle-class tax cuts. Their shouts grew louder when Rowland aired another clip showing Clinton agreeing with wealthy Democratic donors that he had raised their taxes ''too much'' in 1993.
In keeping with ``the American Dream'' theme, Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma recalled his impoverished childhood and said, ``If a poor black kid from rural Oklahoma can be here tonight, this great country will allow you to dream your dreams too.''
House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, one of the most scathing critics of the president, held his fire in his remarks to the convention, in keeping with the Dole campaign's attempt to make the party appear moderate to voters.
Gingrich, who received a widely enthusiastic greeting from the delegates, used his seven-minute appearance on the convention podium to promote charities and community service programs.
He also quoted the late Martin Luther King Jr. in describing the Republican Party's ``dream'' of a country ``of growth and opportunity and prosperity.'
LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS PRESIDENTby CNB