THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 20, 1995 TAG: 9504200473
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines
Offering himself as the candidate of ``straight talk and serious action,'' Sen. Richard G. Lugar joined the 1996 presidential race Wednesday, pledging to abolish the federal income tax and provide steady leadership in world affairs.
The Indiana Republican, a one-time lay Methodist minister, also promised if elected to spearhead an ``American spiritual renewal.'' He blamed a decline in community, family and moral values for rising teen pregnancy and troubling rates of school dropouts and violent crime.
Lugar's announcement speech was sprinkled with suggestions that President Clinton lacked the standing to ``rise to that challenge of reinvigorating American moral character.''
``Our risks are too great and our opportunities too many not to have a president with the experience, character and resolve to lead this great country at this important time,'' he said.
Lugar took the formal plunge into the race before a lunchtime crowd in downtown Indianapolis, where he served as mayor 25 years ago.
His flat speech delivery was proof he will not be the charisma candidate in the GOP field. He conceded as much, as well as his status as a decided long shot. But he predicted that voters will warm to his ideas and his studious style.
``My candidacy is grounded on faith that Americans care deeply about their country,'' Lugar said. ``Faith that Americans know that the presidency is not entertainment. Faith that Americans are not only willing but eager to support a presidential candidate who offers straight talk and serious action on issues that affect their lives and their children's future.''
To that end, Lugar promoted the radical tax proposal he is counting on to separate him from his rivals.
The plan would eliminate the federal income tax, on both individuals and corporations, as well as taxes on capital gains, estates, gifts and inheritance. Instead, Americans would pay a national sales tax of roughly 17 percent.
Lugar said the plan would dramatically increase the savings rate, produce thousands of new jobs because of increased investment capital and prove a boon to U.S. companies because their products would be more competitively priced in world markets. Critics of such plans say that sales taxes are easy to raise, and that future presidents could also revive the income tax.
Like most of the other Republicans in the race, Lugar promised to put every federal program under review in the quest for a balanced budget.
But he delivered a cautionary note to his own party as well, warning Republicans not to take their new majorities in Congress as evidence that they have completed their work.
Lugar, 63, has long been a respected, sometimes maverick voice on farm and foreign policy and twice has been considered for the No. 2 spot on the GOP ticket, in 1980 and again in 1988.
In his quest for the presidency, Lugar barely registers in early polls and lags in early organizing and fund raising. Indeed, instead of staging the traditional cross-country announcement tour, he is crisscrossing Indiana this week hoping to cash in on home-state enthusiasm for his candidacy.
In addition, many in the party are skeptical of Lugar's chances on the ground that his soft-spoken style, preference for bipartisanship and focus on foreign affairs put him out of step with the economic and cultural conservatives ascendant in GOP politics.
Lugar, however, predicts that such handicapping is ``a severe miscalculation of the wisdom of the American people.''
Looking abroad, Lugar said he worried that the United States was, in the critical aftermath of the Cold War, wasting ``a special moment in history when American power and influence could be at their peak.''
He said the United States needed ``a skilled statesman'' as president to be more assertive in preventing the spread of nuclear technology and terrorism. And, taking a shot at Clinton's lack of military service, Lugar, who served three years in the Navy, said:
``In the Lugar administration . . . Americans will rest easier in the knowledge that the president standing watch over our country's safety and security is someone who actually knows what it means to stand a watch.'' ILLUSTRATION: Sen. Richard G. Lugar, 63, of Indiana, calls himself a candidate
of ``straight talk and serious action.''
RICHARD GREEN LUGAR
AGE - BIRTH DATE - 63. Born April 4, 1932.
EDUCATION - Bachelor's degree from Denison University in 1954.
Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, where he earned master's degree
in 1956.
EXPERIENCE - Served three years in Navy until 1960, including
stint as intelligence officer under Adm. Arleigh Burke in Pentagon.
Elected to Indianapolis School Board in 1964. Elected Indianapolis
mayor in 1968, served until 1975. President of National League of
Cities, 1970-71. Elected to Senate in 1976; chairman of Foreign
Relations Committee from 1985-86, until Democrats recaptured
control. Now chairman of Agriculture Committee. Author of ``Letters
to the Next President,'' published in 1988.
FAMILY - Wife: Charlene Lugar, who serves on national board of
directors of the March of Dimes. Four grown sons, Mark, Robert, John
and David; seven grandchildren.
KEYWORDS: BIOGRAPHY REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE PRESIDENTIAL RACE by CNB