THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 25, 1996 TAG: 9601250031
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
Campaign '96 is off and running. President Clinton's State of the Union address was the opening salvo in his campaign for a second term. The likely Republican nominee for the presidency, Sen. Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas, delivered the answering salvo for his party and himself.
The contest Tuesday evening was between a baby boomer looking remarkably fit and a World War II vet showing his age. The speeches were those of a yuppie pragmatist and a Puritan populist. In a variety of ways, the contrast couldn't have been more obvious.
Characteristically, Clinton spoke with warmth, optimism and confidence. He co-opted Republican positions on crime, the family, values, welfare, a balanced budget. He conceded - indeed, he asserted twice - that the era of big government is over. He said a budget deal is possible and common ground for agreement between the Republican Congress and himself available. He stressed the union in State of the Union.
For his part, Dole embraced division and drew stark distinctions. He was as bleak as a Kansas winter. He said there's a place where compromise ends and core convictions begin. He called the present standoff between Congress and the president a defining moment. And he did not propose to meet the president halfway. Famed as a wheeler-dealer, Dole said no deal.
Clinton was full of praise for a variety of Republican initiatives. Dole had nothing but scorn for Clinton as a defender of the welfare state, a friend of liberal courts trashing American values, a supporter of elitists trying to run all schools from Washington, hijack our culture and keep bigger and more-meddlesome government in business. Dole called Clinton the chief obstacle to a balanced budget and promised to fight him tirelessly, to defund Big Brother and to do the work of the Lord.
If Clinton's vision of America was too good to be true, Dole's may have struck many as too unpleasant to enjoy. He promised little beyond blood, sweat, tears and toil. Clinton promised an America leading the world with stronger families, better-educated children, economically secure adults, safe streets, a clean environment with Medicare and Medicaid for all.
Clinton said we've got to work together if we want America to work. Dole said we can't give in to all our desires if we want to balance the books. One called for teamwork, the other for individual sacrifice.
Clinton seemed to suggest we can have our cake and eat it too. Dole seemed to suggest we're all going to have to go to bed without our supper.
If the race really does continue in this vein until November, it could be one of the most-interesting and least-ambiguous debates in the history of presidential politics. by CNB