THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 5, 1994 TAG: 9411050675
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: NEWPORT NEWS DAILY PRESS
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
Margaret Thatcher, one of the world's great advocates for the free market, believes the United States would be wise to make an exception for political campaigns.
Speaking at the College of William and Mary Friday, Thatcher said Britain had minimized the influence of money in political campaigns by strictly regulating campaign spending and advertising and by limiting the length of campaigns to as little as three weeks.
Candidates are given equal time to speak on television for free, she said, but cannot run television ads.
``That's the way we tackle it,'' Thatcher told about 800 college alumni during an hourlong question-and-answer session as part of the weekend's homecoming activities. Thatcher's comments on campaigns followed a question about Ronald Reagan's criticism of U.S. Senate candidate Oliver North. Thatcher called the question ``off side,'' and never mentioned North or his contest with Democrat Charles Robb and independent Marshall Coleman.
Thatcher talked about the apparent cynicism of the American electorate, saying repeated attacks on the ``personal shortcomings'' of candidates might be partially to blame. She also cited the influence of special interest groups and their demands on politicians.
``I wonder if it isn't that democracy is becoming a method of government that, at election time, leads candidates to promise more than they can deliver,'' she said. Thatcher, who became the 21st chancellor of the college in February, took about a dozen questions from the audience about politics and world affairs but not one about William and Mary. At one point she apologized for being long-winded; her shortest response came to a question about the future of the monarchies in Britain and Saudi Arabia.
``I trust both will survive a long time,'' she said.
Alvin Anderson of Williamsburg asked for Thatcher's advice on health care. ``It's a very, very difficult one for a foreigner to answer,'' said Thatcher, who declined to offer specific ideas for reform.
But Thatcher noted that the United States already has government programs that provide health insurance for the elderly and the poor and that private insurance covers most of the rest. by CNB