Following are excerpts from the debate last night in Manchester, N.H., among Republican presidential candidates Gary Bauer; Governor George W. Bush of Texas; Alan Keyes; Senator John McCain of Arizona; Senator G. Orrin Hatch of Utah; and Steve Forbes.
Q. Let me follow up with you on the issue that you have made the foremost issue in your campaign - abortion. You appear to have a position, sir, that is at variance with what majorities consistently say they favor. How do you propose to accomplish the end of legal abortion as we know it if you were president?
BAUER. ... I don't think I'm at odds with the majority at all. But I must tell you that if I was, it wouldn't make any difference. This is a fundamental question. It's about whether or not our unborn children are part of the American family, protected by the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. I think there are serious differences between us on this. I think that a Republican presidential nominee must be clear that his running mate will be prolife. Mine will be. I hope tonight that Governor Bush will clarify and finally agree that his will be. ...
Q. Senator McCain, in your home state of Arizona, and in Washington, D.C., fellow Republicans make an issue of your temper. It is one thing to feel passionate about the issues, but why is it that those who know you best seem to like you the least?
McCAIN. You know, a comment like that really makes me mad. (Laughs.) (Laughter.) The fact is, I have very close and dear friends in Arizona and in the Senate and in the House, and very dear friends all over America, I'm happy to say. Do I feel passionately about issues? Absolutely. When I see the Congress of the United States spend $6 billion on unnecessary, wasteful pork barrel spending, and we have 12,000 enlisted families, brave men and women, on food stamps, yeah, I get angry. ...
Q. In October you accused the media of being racist for their apparent disinterest in you during a press availability. Is that racism or is it a reflection of your standing in the polls?
KEYES.... I think these polls are phony to begin with. They are a manipulated result aimed at trying to usurp and preempt the choice of the American people. But there have been some of these phony polls lately that show me ahead of people you've given more attention to, including folks who are standing right next to me right now. So by the criteria that the phony folks in the media use, you are violating your own criteria. And I have to look around for another explanation when that happens. And I know that explanation from the time I stepped forward. You know, when I first stepped forward, the only thing people in the media wanted to ask me about was race. And I used to wonder why, because I was speaking to an issue far more important than that in my opinion, which is the root, in fact, of our racial difficulties: the decline of our moral character, principle and decency; the abandonment of the basic premise that our rights come from God, not from our mother's choice, not from the Constitution's choice, but from the will of God. ...
Q. You've got an ad on the air now - quickly put together with a telephone call - in which you accuse Governor Bush of a betrayal on Social Security because he has considered raising the age. Is it fair to criticize someone simply for considering an option which is on nearly everybody's list of what to do about that program?
FORBES. ... Concerning Social Security, it's typical of the political culture today to make promises and then break the promises, and Governor Bush, the other day on ''Meet the Press,'' said he would consider raising the retirement age. It has already been raised from 65 to 67. That's a betrayal. Now what are they going to raise it to, Governor? Seventy? Seventy-five? That's not fair to the people. They were made a promise, and it should be kept. And that's why I've put forth proposals to take it out of the hands of the Washington politicians and return it to ''We, the People'' - bold proposals.
Q. Governor, you have said that you would always have people around you, as president, who would be able to fill in any gaps in your knowledge of the world and the players on the world stage. But let me ask you, do you think that President Bush could have done the job he did in assembling and holding together the Gulf War coalition, composed of many very varied nations, had he not had the knowledge of the world that he had from years of experience and diplomacy and politics at the UN.?
BUSH. In order to be a good president when it comes to foreign policy, it requires someone with vision, judgment, and leadership. I've been the governor of the second biggest state in the United States. If it were a nation, it would be the 11th largest economy in the world. I was overwhelmingly reelected because the people in my state realized I know how to lead and I've shown good judgment. A couple of weeks ago, at the Reagan Library, I talked about my vision for peace. My goal, should I become the president, is to keep the peace. I intend to do so by promoting free trade which, in my judgment, promotes American values across the world. I intend to do so by strengthening alliances, which says America cannot go alone, we must be peacemakers not peacekeepers. And I intend to strengthen the military to make sure that the world is peaceful.
Q. Governor Bush, according to the Houston Chronicle, Houston is the smoggiest city in America. Do you support the EPA's proposed Tier 2 standards to desulfurize gasoline? Cleaner gasoline would help cut down on the ozone pollution, yet many refiners, some of whom are based in Texas, oppose the Tier 2 standards. Tell us your position.
BUSH. ... Yes, I do support cleaner gasoline standards across the country. I - here's what I believe. I believe we can have economic growth and conservation at the same time, and I know there are some environmental groups out of Washington running ads about me here in New Hampshire. They're polluting my record. I've got a good record as governor. We've reduced toxic emissions overwhelmingly in my state. ... I've got a good record because I know how to set high standards; I know how to bring people together to achieve those standards.
Q. Senator Hatch, you've heard Mr. Forbes' answer ... about the Microsoft suit. He says basically he'd drop it. What would you do?
HATCH. Well, look, I was the first to hold hearings on Microsoft because we had literally hundreds, if not thousands, of complaints from all over the software and computer industry that Microsoft was leveraging its 90 percent control of the underlying operating system that everybody had to tie into in order to come onto the Internet and in order to use - and that they were doing that by crushing others, picking on others, buying up others, using their economic power. Now, that's what the antitrust laws are for. ... They're laws that try to make sure we even up and make people equal. ... To make a long story short, that suit is justified.
Q. Senator McCain, the status of the US Army's readiness is under scrutiny right now. They have difficulty recruiting. There is an internal dispute between traditionalists, who say the Army's strength is in its big guns and tanks, and those who say the Army should modernize to be able to deploy faster and lighter tanks. What's your take? Does the Army have a place in a modern military or is the US Army obsolete?
McCAIN. Of course the Army has a place. And the Army, however, has not been able to restructure to meet the post-Cold War challenges. All during the Cold War, the United States Army was geared to fight a tank battle on the plains of Central Europe. Now they have to be able to move from one place to another around the world quickly, and, once there, to beneficially affect the battlefield equation. They're not capable of doing that. ... Yes, we need to restructure the military. We need to knock heads together in the military. I know how to do that because I've been there. And I also believe that we've got to rid the defense appropriations bills of pork barrel spending, waste, and incredible, almost criminal behavior like spending $325 million on an aircraft carrier that the Navy doesn't want or need. ...
Q. Mr. Keyes, America intervened in Kosovo when it became apparent that innocent civilians were being slaughtered. Now the same is happening in Chechnya. What should the United States do about Russia's military crack-down on Chechnya?
KEYES. Well, first of all, I think the first part of your statement is not true. ... We've learned a lot of information that suggests that the propaganda that was unhappily spread throughout the media about atrocities in Kosovo was greatly exaggerated. The Pentagon has admitted; news sources have admitted it; teams have been in now and have discovered that a lot of these things did not have foundation. I think that that was a propaganda war. I think we were manipulated into supporting a violation of a fundamental principle of nonaggression, and that our aggression in that case was actually more dangerous than what was happening in Kosovo itself. ... I think we have to be very careful when we start invoking some abstract notions of globalism and global sovereignty in order to violate fundamental principles of national sovereignty, which in fact are very important to safe-guarding peace around the world.
Q. Mr. Forbes, set aside your flat tax for the moment, if you would. What would you advocate as president to keep us away from inflation and out of economic recession?
FORBES. Well, that's very easy, and that is to have a Federal Reserve that keeps the dollar sound. And unfortunately today ... we have a Federal Reserve that is starting to tighten up, raise interest rates because of a bogus economic theory that says that prosperity causes inflation. So, unlike George Bush, I'm not sure I'm going to reappoint Alan Greenspan, if he's addicted to that theory. It's a destructive one. It has already done immense harm to agriculture in America. ...
Q. Senator Hatch, you have been one of the Attorney General Janet Reno's harshest critics, yet you've stopped short of calling for her resignation. Will you do so tonight?
HATCH. No, I'm not going to call for her resignation. I have to say, I've been very critical because I think she's had a palace guard around her that have caused her to not live up to her responsibilities with regard to the investigations that have been taking place. Now in the Judiciary Committee right now, we set up a special subcommittee headed by Arlen Specter to get into some of these problems. And thus far, under threat of subpoena, they seem to be cooperating for the first time in a long, long time, and cooperating in a way that I think might work out.
