ASHINGTON - Steve Forbes's presidential campaign alleged in a complaint to the Federal Election Commission that a moderate Republican group made an illegal $100,000 contribution to rival George W. Bush. Bill Dal Col, Forbes's campaign manager, said he took the action after the Republican Leadership Council, whose members include several Bush supporters, began running commercials in Iowa and New Hampshire warning the millionaire publisher not to run negative ads. ''The Republican Leadership Council and the Bush campaign are mirror images of each other when one looks at the contributors and supporters of each,'' Dal Col said. He called the RLC a ''surrogate organization'' for the Bush campaign. More than half the RLC's advisory board has endorsed Bush for president, though the group has not backed any candidate. Another GOP presidential hopeful, Senator John McCain of Arizona, accused the RLC of violating federal election laws by running the ads attacking Forbes. (AP)
Bush outlines some foreign policy views
WASHINGTON - Texas Governor George W. Bush, under pressure to show he is not a foreign policy lightweight, yesterday outlined some of the ideas he will deliver in an address on international affairs this week. Bush is scheduled to speak Friday at the Reagan presidential library in Simi Valley, Calif. The governor gave a preview in an interview on NBC's ''Today Show'' yesterday, in which he said he would speak about how he intended to lead the nation and keep the peace should he be elected next year. ''I'm going to talk about making sure we strengthen the military, we strengthen our alliances, we strengthen the international economy through free trade,'' Bush said. ''I'm going to talk about China and Russia, our own neighborhood here that surrounds America,'' he said. (Reuters)
Buchanan criticizes Clinton's China pact
OKLAHOMA CITY - Reform Party presidential candidate Patrick J. Buchanan yesterday branded the Clinton administration's trade deal with China a ''complete sellout.'' Buchanan said the agreement, reached Monday, would continue a move toward world government at the expense of American workers. He said that the minute he is elected president, ''the new world order crashes.'' At a news conference and luncheon in Oklahoma City, Buchanan also criticized Republican presidential front-runner George W. Bush's endorsement of the deal. (AP)
Bush won't measure DeLay's compassion
WASHINGTON - Asked whether the House majority whip is a compassionate conservative, Republican presidential front-runner George W. Bush won't say yes - or no. In an interview with ABC's ''20/20 Wednesday,'' Bush said only that Tom DeLay, a fellow Texan and Republican, is ''conservative and I believe Tom's got a good heart.'' He said House majority leader Dick Armey, another Texas Republican, was both ''conservative and compassionate.'' Bush, the Texas governor, has built his campaign around the idea of ''compassionate conservatism'' and has criticized fellow Republicans for confusing the need for limited government with a ''disdain for government itself.'' (AP)
