Babbitt Enters ’88 Race: ‘No Hostage Trades’
Former Gov. Bruce Babbitt of Arizona today entered the race for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination with a pledge to “never again trade anything of value for a hostage” even if it costs the lives of some of those held.
Speaking at the site of what was once the world’s largest textile plant, Babbitt said President Reagan has conducted “government by TelePrompTer in which words and deeds have lost all logical connection.”
He added, “For years we’ve heard courageous words about terrorists--from a President who sends them missiles for ransom and then pleads amnesia when he’s called into account. . . .
“For years we’ve heard patriotic words--from an Administration that compares the Nicaraguan contras to our own founding fathers, and then sets up sultans and Saudis and Swiss bankers to fund them behind our backs.
“And that is a mockery.”
‘Amateurs in Charge’
The loudest and most prolonged applause from the audience of about 200 Babbitt supporters came when the former governor condemned “amateurs in charge of the White House.”
He said, “America does not have to leave arms merchants in charge of our diplomacy, terrorists in charge of our security, soldiers of fortune in charge of our Central American desk, Japanese traders in charge of our markets, embezzlers in charge of Wall Street, bigots in charge of our social agenda, pollsters in charge of our politics, and amateurs in charge of the White House.”
Babbitt, 48, joined Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri as early candidates for the Democratic nomination.
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