Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Dick Lugar told an audience of 150 people about his campaign plan of "prosperity, security and integrity," in a town meeting last night at Alumni Hall in the Hopkins Center for the Performing Arts.
Following a dinner held at Beta Theta Pi fraternity, the Indiana senator addressed the community, outlining his campaign platform, highlighted by his proposal for a new tax code.
In an interview with The Dartmouth following the town meeting, Lugar said he has stayed clear of the negative campaigning typical of some of his competitors for the Republican presidential nomination because it has been his experience that people in New Hampshire do not favor such "attack ads."
"I think we've had opportunities to speak to enough people so they have an idea of who I am and what I'm for," Lugar said. "The idea of New Hampshire has always been this face to face contact you make with people. I believe that's what should be done and that's what I'm about."
Additionally in his interview with The Dartmouth, Lugar said it is crucial for young people to make their voices heard in the upcoming election because there is no other group in America "who has more at stake."
During his speech at the town meeting, Lugar emphasized prosperity, security and integrity, the three planks of his campaign.
To usher in a new age of prosperity, Lugar outlined his plan for a new federal tax system, which he said would help stimulate "a more concerted, real growth in our economy."
Lugar's plan would scrap the existing federal progressive income tax system and the Internal Revenue Service, and put in its place a consumption-based sales tax.
The 17 percent tax would be applicable to most consumer goods, with some notable exceptions, including food and medicine, Lugar said.
This plan, he said, provides "powerful incentives to save and invest."
Lugar also said he is the most qualified of the Republican candidates to deal with issues of domestic security.
In discussing the third part of his campaign, integrity, Lugar asserted the president must be a truth-teller. "The president needs to have a long record of promises made and promises kept," he said.
During the question and answer period that followed Lugar's address, he answered a variety of questions, ranging from health care and foreign relations to the size of the federal government and his consumption-based sales tax proposal.
Responding to a question about what "sticky points" there would be in implementing his tax plan, Lugar admitted his proposal is a complex one, but said, "I do not see how we get to a situation of increased economic growth without a new tax code."
Before the town meeting, Lugar had dinner at Beta, where he spoke to about 30 Beta brothers and 15 sisters from Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.
Lugar visited Beta not just as a presidential candidate but also as a brother. He was a Beta brother in his college days in the early 1950s at Denison University in Ohio.
During his campaign, Lugar has been visiting Beta chapters at colleges across the country, according to Beta President Chris Adamson '97.
Adamson spoke before Lugar, noting the senator has been "moving up steadily" in recent New Hampshire polls. As he introduced Lugar, Adamson lowered a banner that read "The Switch is On, Lugar in '96."
Speaking in a room adorned with "Lugar for President" banners, Lugar told the students of his "wonderful experience as a Beta" during his time at Denison.
He gave a brief speech to the crowd, most of them wearing "Another Beta for Dick Lugar" buttons, and he previewed some of the campaign issues he would later discuss at the town meeting. Lugar then sat down to eat, flanked by several Beta officers, including Adamson.
Adamson said he found Lugar to be a "real down to earth guy," and said the dinner discussion covered everything "from political affairs to Indiana Pacers basketball."
The Beta brothers and Kappa sisters accompanied the candidate as he walked across the Green to Alumni Hall for the town meeting.
Earlier in the day, Lugar, who is a member of the American Running and Fitness Association, went on a run around campus with several Beta brothers.
Adamson said the group started at the Hanover Inn and ran all around campus to Occom Pond, before returning to the Hanover Inn.
John McEwen '96, one of the Beta brothers who ran with Lugar, said the run was "great" and "gave us a chance to talk with Senator Lugar a bit."
Lugar's visit was part of the Daniel Webster Lecture Series.
Lugar's appearance at the College marked the sixth visit by a Republican presidential candidate to the College as part of the Daniel Webster Lecture Series. Previously, Lamar Alexander, Pat Buchanan, Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, and Morry Taylor have all visited the College.
