Bush continues education theme on campaign stump, denounces Gore proposals

March 29, 2000
Web posted at: 6:30 p.m. EST (2330 GMT)

NEWARK, New Jersey (CNN) -- Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Texas Gov. George W. Bush stumped for votes Wednesday in the traditional Democratic stronghold of Newark, New Jersey, by continuing to focus on education and accusing Democratic rival Vice President Al Gore of running a "focus group campaign" for the White House.

"It's so easy to run for office and say 'vote for me, the federal government is going to wave its magic wand and everything will be all right,'" Bush told reporters, in a reference to the education plan submitted by Gore, which seeks an increase in federal funds.

"I know it sounds attractive for a candidate to run around saying 'vote for me, I'm going to build 100,000 classrooms in America' -- that's a focus group campaign."

Bush made the comment after visiting an inner-city charter school in Newark, where he promoted his plan to offer $3 billion in federal loan guarantees to help establish or improve such schools. He lauded the school, the North Star Academy, as a "bottom-up example of reform."

"This charter school shows that all children can learn, and I resent those who stand in the way of education reform, those who say that giving parents different options if they're dissatisfied with the status quo isn't right," said Bush, who was joined by New Jersey Republican Gov. Christine Whitman.

Bush has gone to great lengths to make inroads on the traditionally Democratic issue of education since the earliest days of his primary campaign. On Tuesday, he rolled out a $5 billion plan to improve children's literacy. That program would, among other things, revamp Head Start -- the federal program for pre-school-age children from low-income families -- to concentrate less on social activities and more on preparation for elementary school.

Courting Democratic votes

Recent polls indicate that most voters are divided over whether Bush or Gore, the presumptive Democratic nominee, is better situated to tackle the education issue as president.

The vice president tends toward federal government investment, while Bush has said he wants to return both authority and accountability back to state and local jurisdictions.

After Wednesday's event, Bush accused Gore of "taking the easy way out" by throwing money at the nation's education ills.

The vice president champions spending some $115 billion in federal budget surplus monies over 10 years to continue President Bill Clinton's program to reduce class size, improve school buildings, and hire 100,000 new teachers nationwide.

Gore has dismissed Bush's reform proposals as empty rhetoric, asserting that the Texas governor's five-year, $483 billion tax cut plan "puts a huge cloud over everything that he says about education."

As he continued to reach out to moderate Democrats and Republicans on Wednesday, Bush suggested that he would not use the abortion issue as a litmus test for a potential running mate.

Bush was asked whether Whitman's support for abortion rights kept her off his list of potential vice presidential candidates. Bush, who maintains he opposes abortion, said he has not started work on such a list.

"Good people can disagree on the issue, and I understand that and I'm standing up here with a friend of mine," Bush said. "That doesn't mean we can't be pulling for the same thing, being on the same team, and I respect Gov. Whitman's views and I respect her as a person."

After the school visit, Bush headed across the Hudson river to New York City for a luncheon fund-raiser that -- with the help of top Empire State Republicans Gov. George Pataki and New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani -- pulled in an estimated $500,000. Bush is expected to attend another fund-raiser in Baltimore on Wednesday evening before heading to Wisconsin for a Midwest campaign swing.

In less than a week, the Texas governor has raised $2 million toward his campaign goal of taking in an additional $10 million to spend between now and the Republican National Convention this summer. Unlike Gore, Bush did not accept federal matching campaign funds during the primary season, and is not bound by Federal Election Commission spending limits during that period.

Mending Republican fences

With the bruising primary campaign well behind him, the Texas governor sought to mend fences on Tuesday with two former rivals by reaching out to Arizona Sen. John McCain, and picking up the endorsement of millionaire publisher Steve Forbes.

Bush telephoned McCain on Tuesday while campaigning in suburban Washington, and declared that the "past is the past," according to campaign aides.

McCain would not elaborate on what he said was a five-minute phone call, except to say it was cordial -- a "good initial conversation" -- and that they talked about "reform," an issue that was the focus of McCain's unsuccessful campaign.

McCain said former Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kansas), the 1996 GOP presidential nominee who has been acting as a liaison between the two men, sent word to him Monday that Bush would be calling.

The Arizona senator said that during the conversation, Bush did not ask for his endorsement, and there are no plans as of yet for another conversation, but "I'm sure we will (talk) over time."

When asked if their relationship is getting friendlier, McCain replied: "It has always been respectful."

Hours after his conversation with McCain, Bush picked up the endorsement of Forbes, another former Republican presidential rival. The two appeared together in Forbes' home state of New Jersey.

Before he dropped out of the GOP race last month, Forbes was highly critical of Bush's five-year, $483 billion tax plan as well as his allowance for abortion in the case of rape, incest or to save a woman's life.

But the magazine publisher dropped all of his previous reservations about Bush during a speech to a group of Somerset County Republicans gathered in a VFW hall.

"As the American people are learning and will learn, he is a good man," Forbes said. "He has been tested -- I tried to test him -- and he emerged the stronger for it."

The Texas governor in turn praised Forbes for his devotion to his family and ideas that have included tax cuts and the use of personal savings plans to support retirees.

"He reminds us that ideas make good politics," Bush said. "I appreciate his interjection of a lot of really good ideas."

The CNN's Jonathan Karl, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.