THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 10, 1996 TAG: 9602100263
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF & WIRE REPORTS
DATELINE: CEDAR FALLS, IOWA LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
The battle for the loyalties of religious conservatives erupted Friday as publisher Steve Forbes accused his Republican rivals of leading an anonymous telephone smear campaign and suggested Christian Coalition leaders were trying to sink his candidacy.
The exchange began when Forbes complained that he was the target of ``desperate distortions'' from GOP rivals. Without identifying them by name, he said opponents were ``misrepresenting my position on abortion, the flat tax, Social Security and gays in the military.''
His opponents are ``making anonymous phone calls. They're sending out anonymous pamphlets,'' he said.
Forbes also lashed out against the Chesapeake-based Christian Coalition, the nation's most influential group of religious conservatives, which has criticized him for not supporting a ban on all abortions.
``The Christian Coalition does not speak for most Christians,'' Forbes said at a stop in Manchester, in eastern Iowa. ``It speaks only for its members.''
Forbes' campaign manager, Bill Dal Col, went a step further, implicating Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson in the alleged smear campaign, along with Forbes rivals Sen. Bob Dole and commentator Pat Buchanan.
``Anonymous callers . . . say, `Did you know that Steve Forbes is for abortion on demand?' They say, `Do you know he's for gays in the military?' And then they hang up,'' Dal Col said.
``Who else would be doing it?'' Dal Col asked. ``It's an attempt to keep us down. . . . Dole, Buchanan and Pat Robertson, they're trying to demonize him on social issues.''
Forbes did not dispute Dal Col's allegations against his rivals. But neither he nor Dal Col offered evidence of such a link.
Dole, campaigning elsewhere in Iowa, denied being behind the phone calls and faulted Forbes for thinking that ``people of faith have no place in politics.''
Dole said the Christian Coalition was ``becoming a growing and a large chunk and a responsible group in the Republican Party and I think that is good news.''
``Today, America's greatest challenges are moral and cultural,'' Dole said in Ottumwa. ``I would tell Mr. Forbes, `Let's don't criticize our friends.' ''
Buchanan, also campaigning in Iowa, said the accusations were ``rooted in ignorance and panic.''
``We are not making any anonymous phone calls and, quite frankly, we have no interest in going after Mr. Forbes because his votes are not our votes,'' he said.
Buchanan said his phone bank workers tell people things like ``Steve Forbes is a social liberal, Bob Dole is waffling on the issues,'' and identify themselves as being with the Buchanan campaign.
Mike Russell, spokesman for the Christian Coalition, denied accusations by the Forbes campaign and said the coalition is simply working to get religious conservatives active in the caucus process.
``Steve Forbes is going to have to decide how aggressively he pursues religious conservative voters,'' Russell said in a statement relayed by a Christian Coalition worker. ``If he decides to fumble that ball, that is his choice.''
Forbes unleashed his complaints as rival campaigns were reporting that their internal polls show him slowly but steadily losing ground in Iowa after surging ahead of Dole's other challengers.
One Republican campaign's polling Thursday night, for example, showed Dole at 31 percent and Forbes at 17 percent with Buchanan, Lamar Alexander and Phil Gramm just a handful of points behind Forbes.
Another campaign said its polling has Dole at roughly 30 percent and Buchanan and Forbes in a dead heat at about 15 percent, with Alexander and Gramm further behind.
Forbes' rivals also report his unfavorable ratings have increased, attributing this to attack ads and waning support for his flat-tax plan, particularly among farmers.
Forbes, asked whether he was slipping in the polls, said only, ``I'm making no predictions. I'm just looking to make a credible showing.''
The slip coincides with a more aggressive effort by social conservatives to point out that Forbes supports abortion rights in some cases. Both the Christian Coalition and the National Right to Life Committee have sent out mailings critical of Forbes to their members in the past 10 days.
Forbes says he opposes abortions, but would prohibit them only in the final three months of pregnancy. He says he wants abortions to ``disappear'' but does not support a constitutional amendment to outlaw most abortions.
Forbes has said he supports President Clinton's policy of allowing gays to serve in the military but also has said that if military leaders wanted the policy changed, he would support them.
MEMO: This story was compiled from reports by The Associated Press, The New
York Times and Virginian-Pilot staff writer Esther Diskin.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Steve Forbes
KEYWORDS: CHRISTIAN COALITION by CNB