Portsmouth Herald
RAN 2/9/96, Pg. A1
By Larry Favinger, Maine Bureau Chief
Herald Staff
   PORTSMOUTH - The Senate majority leader seemed like his old self standing
in front of a friendly audience of more than 500 Portsmouth Rotarians and
guests yesterday. He was upbeat, funny, enthusiastic, and running hard for
president of the United States.
   ``I'm a Kiwanian myself,'' Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kansas, said when introduced
by Cliff Taylor. ``Oops. There goes a hundred votes.''
   Later Dole called himself the $10 million man.
   ``I've had $10 million of negative ads thrown at me (by opponent Steve
Forbes) and I'm still standing,'' he said. ``If I believed all those ads I
wouldn't vote for myself.''
   Between the snippets of humor, Dole got down to his message: that he's the
best qualified, the most experienced, and the person ready to provide the
necessary leadership for the country from the White House.
   He said getting things done is ``the right thing to do'' and that he's the
man who can do that. ``Not all the good ideas are on the Republican side of
the aisle,'' he said, underlining his ability to build consensus and his
knowledge of how the system works.
   ``When Bill Clinton got to Washington, he was reported as saying he didn't
understand how things worked,'' Dole said. ``I know how things work. I can
get things done.''
   Balancing the federal budget would be a Dole administration priority.
``This is not a game,'' he said. ``It's about you, your family, your
children, and your grandchildren.''
   Balancing the budget in seven years will lower interest rates, produce
jobs, and keep the economy on an upswing, he said, adding that if the budget
is not balanced, the spiral will go in the other direction.
   Dole said he's ready, willing and able to sit down with the Democrats and
President Clinton if they're really interested in balancing the budget.
   He touched on other familiar themes of his campaign: keeping the federal
government smaller, giving more power and options to the states, reforming
Medicare so it will be there for everyone when it's needed, getting tough on
crime.
   ``We're going to have to start getting tough,'' he said. Dole said
teen-agers who commit violent crimes should be prosecuted as adults and there
should be no parole for those convicted of violent crimes.
   He said Medicare and welfare reform programs must be sent back to the
states. ``We must give power back to the people. We must get government
closer to the people.''
   He reminded the Rotarians and all New Hampshire residents they are faced
with a big responsibility on Feb. 20 - the state's first in the nation
primary.
   ``You decide for many people,'' he said, pointing out that several
candidates may drop from the race when the final New Hampshire results are
in.
   ``You get to vote for people no longer in the race when my state holds its
primary,'' he said. ``Look at all of us under a microscope. Be certain.''
   As he was winding down, he looked out over the crowd at Yoken's and,
smiling, said a women once told him she didn't vote for him because he hadn't
asked her to. He wasn't going to make that mistake again.
   ``I want you to vote for me on Feb. 20,'' he said.
   Judging from the response of those attending, many are planning to do just
that.