Dole Lets The Character Issue Rip

By Thomas H. Moore/AllPolitics

CORONADO, Calif. (AllPolitics, Oct. 15) -- GOP nominee Bob Dole has let the "character issue" rip.

In a speech to an electronics industry association outside San Diego, Dole drew a line between the private morals of President Bill Clinton and his "public ethics" -- and hit him hard on the public ethics.

"Public ethics is a public trust," Dole said, "and when it is violated, the damage is done to our nation, and our institutions, and our idealism. Confronting it directly and forcefully is not a personal attack; it is a public duty." (160K WAV sound)

The speech was the last public appearance Dole will make before his final debate Wednesday night with Clinton -- and likely signals his plan to hammer the president on the "character issue" during the debate.(160K WAV sound)

During the speech, Dole attempted to raise the stakes of the election. "This election will help determine the nature and integrity and dignity of the presidency itself," he said. "Can it be trusted? Should it be respected?"

Dole called Clinton Administration officials "arrogant" and said they have an integrity gap -- "a gap between the low standards they have adopted, and the high honor that they hold." (288K WAV sound)

Dole recited a litany of alleged Clinton Administration "public ethics" violations: the number of officials investigated or forced to resign; the independent counsels investigating every nook and cranny; "tricking" the FBI into turning over sensitive files; refusing to turn over health care task force records; using Marine helicopters for staff golf outings; suppressing a report on the administration's drug policy that may have been critical; and, finally, accepting contributions that may have not been legal from a wealthy Indonesian family.(544K WAV sound)

Dole wove Watergate imagery through the speech, invoking Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon and referring to "stonewalling" by Hillary Clinton's health care task force. He noted that the White House had collected hundreds of FBI files, while, he said, "I know people who went to jail in Watergate for looking at two FBI files."(192K WAV sound)

Separately, in Washington, Rep. William F. Clinger (R-Penn.), chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, has asked Whitewater prosecutors to investigate possible perjury by six current or former White House aides and Hollywood producer Harry Thomason.

Clinger, in a letter to Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr, said his committee has "encountered a systematic and sustained resistance ... as well as an incredible display of faulty memories and missing documents" in its investigative efforts. Mark Fabiani, a White House spokesman, said Clinger's "politically motivated" note "would do Joe McCarthy proud."

Dole Lets The Character Issue Rip

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