GOP hopefuls line up in N.H.

By Jill Zuckman, Globe Staff, May 3, 1999

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- The Republican Party gathered here last night to kick off its quest to win back the White House, but the main attraction was 2,000 miles away.

Texas Governor George W. Bush, the reputed front-runner for the Republican nomination, was the talk of the gathering of party activists, Republican National Committee members and presidential candidates. The fund-raising event, which cost $150 per person, included a cocktail party, dinner and seven-minute speeches by each of the eight candidates present. (Arizona Senator John McCain and columnist Patrick J. Buchanan also were absent.)

Jim Nicholson, chairman of the Republican National Committee, tried without success to dismiss all talk of a front-runner. "The front-runner is probably a matter of interpretation," he suggested.

Nevertheless, many of the candidates took their whacks at Bush, both for his absence and for his refusal to leave Texas while the Legislature is in session.

"I'm sorry Texas is in such bad shape that the Legislature needs to meet on Sunday night," said Lamar Alexander, the former Tennessee governor. Alexander scored a coup with the endorsement yesterday of Bill Zeliff, the former New Hampshire congressman, who many thought would support Bush.

And Gary Bauer, the former domestic policy adviser to Ronald Reagan, was similarly caustic. "It's an unusual phenomenon when your front-runner avoids these very important events that allow Republicans to see all of us," Bauer said.

Dan Quayle warned the 1,200 dinner guests not to get caught up in the polls or the pundits.

"You've heard the self-anointed in Washington say the primary is over. It's not over," Quayle said. "Go with your hearts, not with the polls."

One candidate who refused to take a potshot at Bush was John R. Kasich, the Ohio congressman.

"Where would I get off giving him lessons as well as he's done?" asked Kasich. "He's going to get here at some point."

In fact, Bush is scheduled to visit Iowa and New Hampshire in mid-June. And his supporters set up a table with his name in lights, a popcorn machine and the words "Coming Attraction."

Senator Judd Gregg, Bush's majordomo in the state, dismissed all the carping and shrugged off the Zeliff endorsement of Alexander. "There are people all over the place in this campaign," Gregg said. "We've got people supporting George W. and he hasn't even been here."

But the real purpose of the event, beside raising money for the state party, was to allow candidates to show what they have to offer the voters in 2000. Many of the candidates, both directly and indirectly, addressed the violence that shook Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.

Elizabeth Dole, the former director of the American Red Cross said Americans must help the police fight crime. She said people do not need an AK-47 to defend their family; "cop-killer" bullets that pierce body armor should be outlawed; and guns should have safety locks to protect children. She also said she favors full funding to provide instant background checks on gun owners.

"A person seeking a gun if they're a convicted felon gets no gun at all," Dole said.

Quayle said the nation needs a return to values to prevent future tragedies like the one that took so many lives in Littleton.

"If you have a child that loves God, respects his parents and honors his neighbors, that child will never kill anyone," said Quayle, the former vice president.

Alan Keyes, the former ambassador and radio talk show host, was even more emphatic on the need for religion and values.

"In today's world, you want to stand where God stands and that also means 'thou shalt not kill,' especially innocent children," Keyes said.

Keyes also said he would not keep quiet on the subject of abortion, differing with Dole and McCain's comments that discussion of the subject will divide the party.

The candidates did not forget to take aim at Vice President Al Gore, declaring themselves prepared to fight his push for the presidency.

Alexander joked that he has been working overtime to make sure Americans don't elect the wrong Tennessean. "I've got news for Mr. Gore, if he hasn't already seen it in his polls: America is tired of the problems of the Clinton-Gore administration. America is tired of Al Gore," he said.

Steve Forbes, the business publisher, praised the Republican field for its depth and breadth. "The other party has two candidates, each striving to say less than the other side," he said. "We must not adopt a platform of Clinton-Gore lite. We are the party of Lincoln, of freedom."

In the final remarks of the evening, New Hampshire Senator Bob Smith spoke in favor of gun owners' rights, against the war in Kosovo, and boasted that he had voted for the impeachment of President Clinton.