THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 22, 1996 TAG: 9601220044
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONY WHARTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: AUSTIN, TEXAS LENGTH: Long : 118 lines
Judy Charlton wanted to ask Vice President Al Gore how the government can help citizens be involved, but PBS moderators at the National Issues Convention didn't call on her. So, to her surprise, she went after him.
As Gore was leaving a University of Texas stage, Charlton braved a phalanx of Secret Service agents to reach him.
``I'm so pumped,'' said Charlton, of Brooklyn, Conn., an hour later. ``I actually got to talk with the vice president. I was so determined that I was going to get in there and ask him this question.
``Now I have to go home and tell a lot of people that I did get in there, and asked a question, and he listened to me.''
The 459 Americans who came to Austin Thursday went home Sunday, a little regretful to leave but generally elated at the discussions they had with each other and the candidates.
``We have actually seen democracy fulfilled here,'' said Angel Lehmberg, a student from the University of Missouri.
They also helped government professor Jim Fishkin fulfill his dream of creating ``a poll with a human face.'' A randomly selected cross-section of Americans - including about a dozen Virginians - discussed the issues, quizzed the candidates and noted how they felt before and after in separate polls.
Saturday night, the participants had heard from four Republican candidates. Sunday morning, Gore sat in the arena for more than an hour, even taking more questions after the PBS cameras were turned off.
Gore dived fully into the question-and-answer session, even beating PBS moderator Jim Lehrer to the punch by asking the delegates to elaborate on how they felt about the issues. A couple of times, Gore asked for a show of hands on questions, before Lehrer reminded him he was stealing the pollsters' show. The poll results will be released by Friday.
The session with Gore covered all the convention's issues: the economy, the family and America's global role.
The questions came from 30 groups of 10 to 20 delegates talking about the issues Friday and Saturday. Each group produced several questions on each topic, and the television show's producer, PBS, selected the ones to be aired.
The questions that the participants drafted, other than those read on the air, were not released by PBS Sunday, despite repeated requests from reporters covering the event.
Arizona resident Chris McCall asked Gore how the United States should decide when to get involved internationally, and whether that should be dictated by national interests or humanitarian concerns. Participants delved into that question, particularly in light of U.S. involvement in Bosnia.
Gore said it is important to keep small conflicts from expanding and getting out of control: ``An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It just makes good sense to do that.''
When the military intervenes, he said, it must be after diplomacy and with a clear definition of the mission.
On the related topic of military readiness, Gore said, ``President Clinton believes we have to maintain our military strength.
``But every dollar spent has to be justified. Congress recently insisted on adding $7 billion more than the Pentagon asked for. We have to be very disciplined in not allowing these pork barrel projects to get into the budget.''
While Gore did not specify the projects, the administration has objected to two projects: One is accelerating the schedule for building amphibious docking ships in Mississippi, and the second is building more roll-on/roll-off cargo ships in California.
In answer to a question on reforming welfare from Mike Watson of Colorado, Gore outlined a plan that closely reflected what many of the participants had been favoring: Raise the minimum wage; require able-bodied welfare recipients to work, perhaps on public projects; put a strict time limit on receiving welfare; and provide job training.
Rob Stephens, 21, a political science student from Richmond, asked whether the government should somehow help working parents with the difficulties of child care.
``Well, the question kind of drives us toward an either-or situation,'' Gore replied.
``My response is, the responsibility lies with the family, but where the family is having difficulty we as a country can pass laws making it easier for families, such as giving their employers a tax credit for child care through the workplace.''
Stephens replied, ``It seems our economy is getting better and the companies are earning more. Don't you think they should be helping out more with child care?''
``Personally, I agree with that totally,'' Gore said.
``But I think we would be biting off more than we can chew if we pass a law requiring employers to do that. However, companies which have tried that find that their employees stay with them longer and are more satisfied.''
As the participants wrapped up Sunday, they exchanged addresses, took pictures of each other and talked about how much they had enjoyed getting together.
``This is the first time anyone was actually interested in what I think,'' said Carlos Nieto, 21, an art student from Los Angeles.
Stephens said, ``People are going to ask me if this worked. It worked. People will try to detract from this and criticize it. But I was here. I saw it happen.''
``You come here with your own agenda,'' said Frank Fleming of Vacaville, Calif. ``But I'm coming away as an American.''
Some sounded a warning note, however, about the difficulty of maintaining such a spirit:
``I may watch political people on TV a little longer now,'' said Kirsten L. Shivak, a first-grade teacher from Kings Park, N.Y. ``But if I don't see anything being done on the things we talked about, I'm probably going to lose interest again.'' MEMO: More on the Austin conference/A5
ILLUSTRATION: The National Issues Convention in Austin, Texas, is an
experiment that has brought together 459 Americans to debate three
topics: U.S. foreign policy, the economy and the family.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
[Color Photo]
A couple of times, Vice President Al Gore asked for a show of hands
on issues before being told he was stealing the pollsters' show.
KEYWORDS: COMMUNITY CONVERSATION NATIONAL ISSUES CONVENTION by CNB