ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 8, 1996 TAG: 9610080089
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MILLTOWN, N.J.
SOURCE: Associated Press
NOTE: Lede
Hustling back to the campaign trail after their first debate, Bob Dole pressed his comeback quest Monday by insisting he's the candidate voters can trust, while President Clinton pursued support in states that normally vote Republican.
Both candidates were trying to build on momentum they claimed from Sunday's showdown in Hartford, Conn., although early polls suggested the debate had produced little movement in the race.
Traveling across New Jersey in a bus caravan, an energized Dole underscored a line of attack he used in the debate.
``Halloween's still three weeks away, Mr. President. Stop trying to scare everyone,'' Dole told a rally in this central New Jersey community.
Earlier, he told a rally in Toms River, ``When people think of Bob Dole, I want them to think of the word `trust.' Trust. Trust. And when they think of the word Bill Clinton, I want them to think of the word `fear.'''
Dole pressed his plan for a 15percent tax cut by campaigning with Republican Gov. Christie Whitman, who upset Democratic incumbent James Florio in 1993 largely on the promise of a big tax cut.
In Stamford, Conn., Clinton accepted the endorsement of 2,500 corporate leaders, many of whom already were known as Clinton supporters.
``I have wondered for years why the Democratic Party shouldn't have at least as much support in the business community as the other party,'' Clinton said.
The president, with the luxury of a big lead, also was campaigning in normally Republican Maine and New Hampshire.
Clinton's political aides asserted that Clinton did well enough in the opening debate to fortify his standing in the polls - and that he would spend less time in traditionally Democratic states like New York and Massachusetts where he has built up huge leads.
Meanwhile, Reform Party candidate Ross Perot, who participated in the 1992 debates but was excluded from this years' showdowns, derided Sunday night's debate as a ``theatrical event.''
``If you listened last night, it was confusing because they were both playing pingpong, and denying what the other said, and not getting to the facts and the numbers,'' Perot told a business audience in San Francisco.
Both camps sought to cast their candidate in the best light after Sunday's opening 90-minute debate.
Scott Reed, Dole's campaign manager, said the Dole campaign didn't expect an overnight shift in the polls. ``This is a steady building process that we're going to build up on as time goes on,'' he said.
Reed said he hoped Dole's burst of campaigning by bus this week - New Jersey on Monday and today, and Ohio at the end of the week - would help narrow Clinton's lead to the high single digits by Friday.
White House press secretary Mike McCurry said Clinton made ``the best argument for the future'' in the debate.
Dole joked during his New Jersey bus trip: ``I felt good last night when an impartial observer told me I won the debate. And Elizabeth generally knows what she's talking about.''
Elizabeth Dole campaigned in her own bus tour across Connecticut, telling a business group in Waterbury that her husband had ``known the struggle to make ends meet.''
While Clinton and Vice President Al Gore have made bus campaigns something of a trademark, Monday's tour through New Jersey was the first time Dole has campaigned by bus since winning the GOP nomination.
Interviewed on the Fox News Channel in New York City, Dole was asked if retired Gen. Colin Powell would be secretary of state if Dole were elected.
``I haven't made that specific promise. What I might do is indicate some of the people who would be in a Dole administration without any specific title,'' Dole responded. ``I discussed this generally with Gen. Powell.''
He said he had had similar discussions with former Education Secretary Bill Bennett and former Secretary of State Jim Baker. Dole did not indicate when he might actually announce names. Some advisers have been urging him to make such announcements as a way of bringing new energy to his campaign.
``They're people who have been in government. They understand government. They believe in public service,'' Dole said.
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. 1. Presidential hopeful Bob Dole pushed his 15by CNBpercent tax cut while touring by bus with New Jersey Gov. Christie
Whitman. 2. President Bill Clinton received the endorsement of more
than 2,500 CEOs in Stamford, Conn. on Monday. color. KEYWORDS: POLITICS PRESIDENT