Democrats’ Debate Accents Economy
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Three Democrats campaigning for the White House accused President Bush Friday night of botching the economy and challenged him to come to New Hampshire himself to walk the streets and face the jobless.
In a warm-up debate as they campaigned for support in next year’s early presidential primary, Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas, former Sen. Paul E. Tsongas of Massachusetts and Gov. L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia bickered about their own campaigns but agreed that the faltering economy is the No. 1 issue.
They said there should be “jump start” programs, including emergency unemployment compensation, and that the United States should have a national health care system. Clinton said Bush let New Hampshire “go down the tubes.”
“Bring John Sununu with him when he comes,” Wilder said of the former New Hampshire governor, now White House chief of staff. “Let them walk the streets together and listen to the people.”
Wilder said Bush no longer looks invincible in 1992. “We agree that he can be beaten, he will be beaten,” the Virginian said.
Tsongas said Bush retrieved his 1988 Republican campaign in the New Hampshire primary and it made him president.
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