RAN 10/31 By KEVIN LANDRIGAN Telegraph Staff
MANCHESTER -- U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, fired back Monday at presidential rival Patrick Buchanan's campaign ads, which faulted the Congress for cutting the growth of spending in Medicare for senior citizens. Gramm said during an interview that primary voters will not reward Buchanan with support for that "blatantly political decision" to try to gain points by standing up for the popular health insurance program. "I've never seen a state where people are as informed about issues as they are here in New Hampshire. So that while Pat's rhetoric may sound good to some, in the end that's a big mistake," he said. For the same reason, Gramm said New Hampshire primary voters ultimately will reject GOP front-runner and three-time candidate for president Bob Dole. "This is a man who has run on the presidential ticket three times and lost. He was too moderate in 1980 and too much of a tax-and-spender in 1988. Is that someone Republican primary voters in New Hampshire are going to reward in 1996? I don't think so," Gramm said during an interview while riding in his campaign's rental van from Manchester to Concord. Gramm said he rejects the view that Dole has lost support in the state because polls have shown the front-runner's backing to have declined by more than 20 points. "Those numbers weren't real to begin with. When you have someone who has run for national office three times and has been a national public figure since 1960, and lump him in with the names of 10 other people (in a poll), people are always going to pick the person they know about," Gramm said. Last week, the Buchanan campaign unleashed a 60-second radio advertisement that faulted the Congress for reducing future spending in Medicare and not focusing instead on cutting their own pensions, foreign aid and a U.S. bailout of Mexico. Late last week, Buchanan admitted the ad should not have referred to Medicare "cuts," since the GOP plan reduces the rate of growth in spending from 10 percent annually to roughly 6 percent between now and 2002. Gramm likened the vote of Congress last week to balance the budget over the next seven years to a much-needed trip to the dentist. "Nobody likes anything about it until the thing is all over," he said. Gramm said the campaign's own internal polling shows the race to be wide open with less than four months left in the campaign. He said he has the potential to gain in strength between now and the first-in-the-nation primary tentatively set for Feb. 20. On tax reform, Gramm said he supports a flat tax but believes Congress ultimately will retain both the deduction for a home owner's mortgage interest and one for donations to charity. During the next several weeks, Gramm said he will urge GOP leaders in Congress not to compromise with President Clinton on the cuts in spending contained in the seven-year budget reconciliation bill. "The president has every right to his own spending priorities, and we can discuss those. But the rate of spending better be a non-negotiable item. It certainly is in my book," Gramm said. The Texas senator remains mired in the pack in New Hampshire polls, but he believes he broke through in another key early primary state -- South Carolina -- with a big straw poll victory Sunday in Greenville County. The South Carolina vote is scheduled to take place next March 2, 12 days after New Hampshire. "We won in the strongest, conservative area of the state and with the present and former governor backing Bob Dole. That's what I call a good, old-fashioned whipping," Gramm said. The Dole and Buchanan campaigns in that state have charged the timing of the poll was rigged to benefit Gramm. On Tuesday, Gramm announced the backing of Senate President Pro Tem Eleanor Podles, R-Manchester, giving him three of the 18 Republicans in the Senate. Sen. Tom Colantuono, R-Londonderry, is a state co-chairman along with Executive Councilor Bernie Streeter, R-Nashua. The other pro-Gramm member is Sen. Carl Johnson, R-Meredith. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Telegraph The daily newspaper of Nashua and P.O. Box 1008 southern New Hampshire since 1869 Nashua, NH 03061 voice: (603) 882-2741 fax: (603) 882-2681