President Bush sought to make the candidates` ”moral fiber” the issue Wednesday as he stressed a theme of conservative family values, particularly opposition to abortion.
”If you`re looking to restore America`s moral fiber, why buy synthetic when you can get real cotton?” Bush asked members of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal society.
Although Bush mainly stuck to issues during his speech, the implication that his rival, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, lacked ”real” moral fiber suggested that the president was keeping the so-called character issue alive.
Earlier in the week, deputy campaign manager Mary Matalin issued a press release saying the Clinton campaign spent thousands of dollars fending off
”bimbo eruptions,” a reference to marital infidelity. Bush has publically disavowed the release and Matalin later issued an apology.
Bush, who spent Wednesday on a cross-country tour during what was to be vacation time, also signaled the quickening pace of the campaign by referring to his opponents by name for the first time.
The president told an airport crowd in Reno, ”The Clinton-Gore ticket has two more weeks of leave, and after that (GOP) convention, I`m going after them. We`re going to show them what you can do when you go out and fight for American values.”
In his New York appearance, Bush blamed a variety of social problems on a broken ”moral compass” in the nation.
”I believe that a central issue of this election year should be, who do you trust to renew America`s moral purpose?” Bush said. ”What about promoting religion as a force for promoting good in our nation? I want to strengthen our faith.”
His audience at the Knights of Columbus included the most dedicated members of an organization that has consistently placed a ban on abortion at the top of its political agenda.
At a time when support for Bush has ebbed among Republicans, delegates interviewed at the convention said they remained committed to the president because of his stand on abortion.
Bush drew a standing ovation when he said: ”I promise you again today, no matter the political price, and they tell me in this year that it`s enormous, I am going to do what I think is right.
I am going to stand on my conscience and let my conscience be my guide when it comes to matters of life.”
Supreme Knight Virgil Dechant introduced Bush as the man who had stopped seven abortion-related bills with ”the stroke of a pen.”
Bush quoted approvingly a description by New York Cardinal John O`Connor of Supreme Court decisions on church-state issues as ”an invasion of values.”
The president reiterated his support for prayer in public schools and the issueing of vouchers to families to pay for an education at Catholic and other private schools.
”Right now, if you want an alternative to public schools, you have to pay twice-first for tuition and again through taxes,” he said.
”My opponent won the teachers union endorsement by saying he`s unalterably opposed . . . to letting Catholic parents and other private school parents have a fair share of education benefits.”
Clinton opposes spending public money on private schools, saying it would weaken the public school system.
Bush also criticized distribution of condoms in public schools as a method of slowing the spread of AIDS. O`Connor has strongly opposed such efforts in New York City schools.
Enjoying his reception at a time when polls have him trailing far behind Clinton, Bush joked about his campaign`s difficulties, which include calls by some conservatives for him to step aside.
It`s an experience that would be familiar to the Knights` namesake, Christopher Columbus, he said.
”The guy was faced with questions at home about whether his global efforts were worth a darn,” Bush said.
”Some critics wanted him to cut his voyage short. He even faced the threat of a mutiny. Yet Columbus persevered and won-not a bad analogy in my view.”
