Lamar Alexander:  WMUR Debate

LAMAR ALEXANDER (R), Presidential Candidate: Thank you very much,
Carl. I've heard of defining moments in New Hampshire Republican
primaries, and I think this is another one. I'm glad to be here
tonight. Walking across New Hampshire, which I've been doing, has
been a great way for us to get to know each other. Just a few weeks
ago, I was up on Elm Street two blocks from here, and I walked up
to a lady outside a shoe factory, stuck out my hand and said, `I'm
Lamar Alexander. I'd like to be your next president,' and she
looked at me and my red and black shirt, and in a startled way said
`That's all we need. Another president. We need jobs. We need
another shoe factory.'
     I hope my friend from Elm Street is watching tonight because
I'd like to say to you, that can have a steady stream of new jobs,
a stronger America, the brightest future we've ever had. But we're
going to have to expect Washington to do less and us to do more for
ourselves. The two most important things I hope you'll take away
from this conversation tonight are, number one, this is about the
future. What kind of country are we going to have in the year 2000
and beyond? That's why I've urged my friends here to help me make
this a vision contest and not the political equivalent an O.J.
trial. We don't need a political circus on top of the legal circus
we've just seen. And the other thing I hope you will remember
is that I'm different. Most of them are from Washington, D.C. I'm
from outside Washington, the real world. Listen carefully tonight.
For an hour and a half I don't think you'll hear any of them from
Washington talking about term limits, about million-dollar
congressional pensions, about cutting their own pay and sending
themselves home and having a citizen Congress. It's hard to change
the culture of Washington if you are the culture of Washington.
     So tonight in New Hampshire we're beginning the process to
elect the first president of the next century and Carl, let's let
the vision contest begin. 

CARL CAMERON, WMUR-TV Political Correspondent: Thank you very much,
Governor, and now that we're lighted we can certainly hope that
that will be accomplished. We have very low unemployment in New
Hampshire, Governor, and welfare is a very small problem, a very
limited welfare case load as well. Still, there is an economic
insecurity in the Granite State as there is across much of the
nation and a dissatisfaction with the current level of wages. What
exactly, as president, can you do to restore that confidence and
increase wages? 

Gov. LAMAR ALEXANDER: Do what I did as governor, create an
environment in which the largest number of new jobs can grow. When
I was governor of Tennessee, we went from third to the bottom in
family incomes to the fastest-growing state, from never having
built a car to being the third largest producers of automobiles.
And we did that, not by government doing, but by keeping taxes low,
regulations low and creating that environment. 
     I would create a flatter, simpler, fairer federal income tax,
a big cut in the capital gains tax, less focus on regulations, a
big focus on education. We need radical change in our elementary
and secondary education and nothing is more important to our future
than that. 

CARL CAMERON: Let me key then on your role as the former education
secretary in the Bush administration and in your opening statements
you talked about your role as the outsider in this race. And yet,
I think many would say that a cabinet member in the White House is
perhaps the closest insider there is to the chief executive. So,
explain to us how one reconciles that seeming inconsistency.
 
Gov. LAMAR ALEXANDER: Carl, I don't think it's inconsistent. I've
been in Washington five years and I'm proud of it, for two
presidents. But it was long enough to get vaccinated but not
infected. I went home.  Some of the others have been in Washington
since 1960. I've been a governor, a university president. I've
helped to create a business that has 1,200 employees. My heart and
soul and language and energy are all outside Washington, D.C., and
I think it will take a candidate from outside Washington to beat
Bill Clinton and to change Washington. 

CARL CAMERON: One might argue that that would be an endorsement of,
for instance, Steve Forbes, who's never held elective office.
 
Gov. LAMAR ALEXANDER: Steve can speak for himself. I've had the
privilege of being a governor of a state, a chief executive, and
changing it. I've had the privilege of being the president of a
university and of starting a business from scratch, as well as
enough experience in Washington not to get skinned if I go back. So
I think that's the only candidate in the race with that sort of
real world experience. 

CARL CAMERON: You talk a great deal about shifting power out of
Washington and back to the states. Specifically on welfare, would
you advocate a minimum of standards that would insure, for
instance, the health of children nationally?
 
Gov. LAMAR ALEXANDER: The answer to that is no. The difference
between me and Senator Dole and Senator Gramm and the others, is I
think they're headed in the right direction, their philosophy is
right- limits on welfare, work on welfare- but I would give all the
decisions back to Governor Merrill and the citizen legislature of
New Hampshire and push it on back to communities. 
I met a young couple here who said they went to the welfare office
and they were encouraged to separate in order to get high welfare
benefits. Governor Merrill is trying to change that. He's asked for
65 pages of waivers. Why should he have to ask for any? The
difference between me and my Washington friends is I'd move it all
back and they provided 800 Republican pages of rules from
Washington and that's not limited central government to me. 

CARL CAMERON: Thank you, Governor. I want to thank you for keeping
the answers brief. We did cover quite a bit of ground and now I
want to urge you to go to your closing statements. You have about
a minute and a half. 


Gov. LAMAR ALEXANDER: I've been walking across New Hampshire
because that's where the answers are. They're not in Washington,
D.C., and neither is our strongest candidate to be the first
president of the next century. We know what to do- a strong
America, a steady stream of new jobs, more freedom from Washington
to make more of our own decisions, a balanced budget- but most
important, we should spend less time looking for what the
government owes us and less time trying to find somebody to blame
for what goes wrong, and more time being willing to accept personal
responsibility for the consequences of our own actions.
     If you agree, whether or not you have a red and black shirt
like I do, then I invite you to join this campaign. It is for you.
Come on along.  Thank you.

CARL CAMERON: Governor Lamar Alexander, thank you very much.

Gov. LAMAR ALEXANDER: Thank you, Carl.