In a nationally televised forum of 10 Republican presidential hopefuls in Manchester, front-runner Bob Dole said he is the only Republican presidential candidate with the experience to beat President Bill Clinton in next year's election.
The forum gave the candidates an opportunity to express their views and plans to the citizens of New Hampshire and to a national television audience through the Cable News Network. All of the candidates sharply attacked Clinton and pledged to work for lower taxes, a smaller government and a return to traditional American values.
The forum unofficially kicks off the campaign period for the New Hampshire primary, which is in February.
A recent WMUR-TV/Dartmouth poll showed that New Hampshire voters are very concerned about economic issues, and many of the candidates directed their remarks to address these concerns.
All the candidates promised to cut taxes, while they criticized the tax hikes enacted under the Clinton administration.
Publishing magnate Steve Forbes, Chicago businessman Morry Taylor, and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Penn., advocated a flat income tax, while Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., called for "the end of federal income tax, capital gains tax ... and the end of the IRS."
Ever since the balanced budget amendment was narrowly defeated in the Senate, the issue has been at the top of the GOP agenda. Both Dole, the Senate Majority Leader from Kansas, and Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, said they would make balancing the federal budget a top priority.
Many of the candidates lack the political experience of Dole or Gramm, and they emphasized the need for fresh opinions and perspectives in Washington, D.C.
"The people in Washington have an obsolete mind-set -- and we need to take their power away and give it to the people," Forbes said.
Political commentator Pat Buchanan agreed, saying "We do not need to replace their set of professional politicians with our set of professional politicians."
But Dole said in his opening statement that his experience will allow him to beat Clinton and use the White House to enact the GOP agenda that he said voters embraced last year when they swept Republicans to control of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
"We must elect someone who knows how to make that change," Dole said. He said he is running for President "because I am convinced that America's finest hour is not a memory -- it is a goal."
Besides criticizing the current situation in Washington, many candidates said they supported decentralization of the federal government.
"We need to give power back to the governors and the state legislatures," Dole said.
Gramm said, "We need a grass roots effort to take power from Washington and put it in the hands of your family."
The candidates discussed other issues that figure to loom large in the campaign, such as affirmative action, abortion and economic entitlements.
When questioned about affirmative action, all of the candidates said they were against quotas and racial entitlements.
"I am opposed to quotas because they create divisiveness, but I support equality for all Americans," Gramm said.
"If I am elected President, I will overrule quotas by an Executive Order," Gramm said.
Specter was the only pro-choice candidate. Gramm and radio talk-show host Alan Keyes both condemned abortion and upheld their pro-life beliefs.
All the candidates cited a need to reform economic entitlements -- in particular Medicare and the so-called "welfare state."
Political pundit Pat Buchanan said the worst thing to happen to the American poor is the welfare state.
But Dole said he is against cutting Medicare.
"We're going to save, strengthen, and preserve Medicare for future generations," Dole said.
A poll of 483 people by Dartmouth and WMUR showed that 34.9 percent of New Hampshire voters support Dole. Buchanan placed second among the candidates with 8.8 percent of the vote.
