With the New Hampshire primaries less than a month away, Republican Presidential Candidate Steve Forbes hosted a town meeting in the Hanover Inn last night, where he publicized his "new birth of freedom" plan to a predominantly older audience.
Forbes said he views winning the New Hampshire primaries as a critical first step, in that a victory would enable him to begin to pressure legislators on Capitol Hill and show that Americans are primed for change.
The heart of his campaign, Forbes said, concerns bringing a new birth of freedom to America, which would deliver the true agenda of America to Washington.
In order to disseminate his agenda to voters in the Dartmouth community and New Hampshire, Forbes told The Dartmouth step-by-step publicity is the key.
"In New Hampshire there is no shortcut to doing what I am doing tonight -- taking the message to the people," he said.
In addition to electronic and print media, Forbes' campaign strategy also revolves around using the Internet, including his campaign website, which he said is superior to that of any other candidate.
During his speech, Forbes stressed overhauling both the tax code and social security financing, as well as solving the health care crisis with people empowered to choose health resources.
Forbes spent a considerable amount of time criticizing the Internal Revenue Service and the pitfalls of what he said is an comprehensible tax code.
"We should take this horrific code that is beyond human comprehension and do to it what they used to do monsters in Hollywood movies before they discovered sequels -- take this beast and kill it."
Forbes criticized Governor George W. Bush for a soft tax proposal that fails to reform the IRS nor imparts any substantial changes to the tax code.
As a replacement, Forbes urged a fresh start by implementing a flat tax, which he said will provide a tax cut and allow people to keep more of the money they earn.
When asked how he could garner support for such an idea, he said people will have a choice of staying on the old system or switching to the flat tax.
Forbes called himself "an optimist" and "an independent outsider" with "a bold agenda based on principle."
One component of Forbes' bold plan involves initiating a national dialogue to try and persuade people to adopt a pro-life stance.
"I have faith that people can be persuaded, and I'll try to do my part in persuading people," Forbes said. "[We should] change the culture by changing the law, step-by-step."
Forbes also pointed out the national health care crisis and its structural pitfalls. He advocated less third party interference between people and their physicians.
"Why can't patients be in charge of health care resources?" Forbes asked. "We [need] freedom and flexibility of health care."
Forbes said he is the only candidate to devise a health care system, and cited his own company as successfully advancing health care by placing freedom of resources in the hands of its workers.
In another segment of his speech, Forbes attacked the financing of Social Security.
Forbes calls for the phasing in of a new system, where part of one's taxes can be deposited directly into a personal retirement account where it can be reinvested instead of the money disappearing in Washington.
