Taylor seeks the key to a longshot victory

By Erin Caddell
Sentinel Staff
Sept. 12, 1995

   Morry M. Taylor knows it's not easy to get noticed in American
presidential politics these days. But he has a formula that seems to be a
good bet: a non-stop campaign tour complete with six Airstream Land Yacht
motor homes with his name plastered all over them.  And - maybe most
importantly - lots and lots of money. 
   The Illinois businessman and longshot Republican presidential candidate
has bought a flurry of newspaper and radio ads and is taking those six
mobile homes on an 89-stop tour through New England.  He brought his
caravan to the Monadnock Region Monday, stopping in Keene, Winchester and
Peterborough. 
   ``It's a lot of fun, I just wish it didn't cost so much money. I've 
worked hard for it,'' Taylor said.
   So far, Taylor has about as much recognition on the national political
scene as Bob Dole's favorite necktie. But Taylor, 51, is hoping to tap
into the same dissatisfaction with Washington that gave Texas billionaire
H. Ross Perot 19 percent of the popular vote in 1992. 
   To handfuls of voters at each stop Monday, Taylor delivered his
message: cut the federal budget deficit, limit bureaucracy, simplify the
income-tax system, spark economic growth and turn decisions on social
issues like education and abortion back to the states. 
   Taylor's folksy, direct style matched his wardrobe: light brown 
suit, American flag tie, monogrammed dress shirt and white tennis 
shoes. 
   The similarities between Perot and Taylor don't stop with the message.
The two share a distaste for insider Washington politics.  Taylor's motor
homes proclaim that he accepts ``No PAC Money'' and ``No Taxpayer Money.''
Like Perot, Taylor is bankrolling his campaign almost entirely with his
personal fortune, which he estimates at ``north of $40 million.''
    Also like Perot, Taylor says he will use business experience - he's
president and chief executive officer of Titan Wheel International, the
nation's leading manufacturer of rims and wheels for farming and
construction equipment -to come up with innovative solutions to the
nation's problems and push them through Congress. 
    Case in point: rather than the complex income-tax system now in place,
or the flat-tax system proposed by some Republicans, Taylor says his
system would keep things simple while still forcing those who make more
money to shoulder more of the tax burden. 
    Taylor's proposal: taxpayers would pay 2 percent on all income below
$20,000; 10 percent between $20,000 and $35,000; and 17 percent on
everything above $35,000. No deductions, no exemptions - even if the
income is from the federal government in the form of welfare payments or
Social Security benefits - or tax credits. 
    ``The federal government took in $1.3 trillion in tax money last year.
It spent $1.5 trillion,'' Taylor said in an interview in one of his motor
homes, jotting the numbers down on a pad. ``You don't have to be a rocket
scientist. Where's the extra money? Federal bureaucrats spent it all.''
    ``In my view, you've got to be truly outside Washington. None of the
other candidates are. (Pat) Buchanan's not even clean. Neither is (Alan)
Keyes,'' Taylor said. ``All the other candidates are very nice, fine men.
They'll give you exactly what you've got now.''
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