The Associated Press
RAN Fri 09-Feb-1996
BY FRED BAYLES
Associated Press Staff
   PORTSMOUTH -- As other Republican presidential candidates crisscrossed
   Iowa on Thursday, Bob Dole sought to shore up support in New Hampshire
   telling audiences to consider his experience and not be fooled by easy
   tax panaceas.
   
   Dole took several swipes at his chief rival Steve Forbes, pointedly
   not mentioning the wealthy publisher by name, questioning both Forbes'
   flat tax and his mutlimillion dollar blitz of negative campaign ads.
   
   Recent polls have shown the two candidates running about even for the
   February 20 New Hampshire primary.
   
   ``I must say that people are affected by negative ads. I know I am,''
   Dole said when asked about campaign financing. ``I've had about $10
   million worth of them hurled at me recently. I'm the $10 million man
   and I'm still standing.''
   
   While saying he supported an income tax that would be ``flatter,
   fairer and simpler'' Dole warned that Forbes' proposal of a 17 percent
   flat tax threatened to raise the deficit and shift the tax burden from
   ``the super-rich to the middle class.''
   
   ``We need to change the system,'' he told audiences that ranged from
   factory workers to a business luncheon at the Portsmouth Rotary Club.
   ``But it has to pass Congress. It can't pass by edict.''
   
   Doled stressed that his years in Congress, in contrast to Forbes'
   outsider status would be crucial to get tax reform.
   
   ``I don't want to mention anyone in particular, but I just say that's
   where experience comes in handy again,'' Dole said.
   
   The Senate majority leader keyed on the theme of experience over and
   over again, telling workers at a cable manufacturer and a new biotech
   firm that it was experience that helped build their companies. He
   likened it to his experience in Washington, but said his years in
   Congress did not leave him out of touch with the rest of the country.
   
   Many of Forbes' campaign ads paint the Kansas Republican as a
   Washington-based politico who no longer represents the public.
   
   ``Some cynics would say `Well, these people with experience are
   Washington insiders. They've been there too long, and they've
   forgotten where they're from,''' Dole said. ``Let me dispel that
   notion. I've never forgotten where I'm from. I'm from Russell,
   Kansas.''
   
   Dole was relaxed and breezy during his day-long campaign swing. He
   joked with audiences, encouraging them to vote for either him or his
   wife, Elizabeth.
   
   ``If she's elected, I'll be happy to serve,'' he said.
   
   Dole said he was optimistic about next week's Iowa caucuses.
   
   ``We're in good shape. We have a good organization there. We're going
   to be there Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and we'll see what
   happens.''
   
   But he noted with impending votes in Iowa and New Hampshire, ``a lot
   of candidates are getting nervous.''
   
   ``We have the right,'' he told reporters. ``It's like any big game.
   When you get on the field, you get a little nervous.''
   
   
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