Politics 88 : Gephardt Uses Tax Record in Mounting Attack on Foes

One day after coming under attack from all corners in the Democrats’ final pre-primary debate in New Hampshire, Rep. Richard A. Gephardt went on the offensive on taxes, stressing a tax-cutting record that he rarely emphasized while campaigning in Iowa.

The Missouri congressman made it clear here Sunday that he now plans to make his tax-cutting record, heavily criticized by his rivals, nearly as big an issue in his campaign as his well-known stance on trade.

Gephardt campaign aides believe that their candidate’s support for the 1981 Reagan tax cut and the 1986 tax reform package--for which he was blasted in Iowa by Illinois Sen. Paul Simon--will help him in New Hampshire. Conventional wisdom here attributes much of the state’s growth in the past decade to its absence of state sales or income taxes.

‘Stumbled Into It’

“Simon and (Massachusetts Gov. Michael S.) Dukakis stumbled into it, criticizing us on taxes,” argued Joe Trippi, deputy campaign manager for Gephardt. “If they want to talk about how Dick Gephardt voted to cut taxes in New Hampshire, we said, sure, we’ll talk about that.”

Gephardt, who is now seeking to position himself both for a second-place showing here behind Dukakis and for the ensuing race for Super Tuesday on March 8, apparently senses that tax-cutting rhetoric will appeal to moderate Democrats in both New England and the South.

“Our party can never win in 1988 if we are seen as the party of higher taxes,” Gephardt told reporters.

Gephardt charged that his major rivals here--Dukakis and Simon--have opposed tax cuts both at the federal and state level.

“Gov. Dukakis has raised taxes more than any governor in the history of Massachusetts,” Gephardt said, repeating a line from a new negative commercial his campaign began airing Saturday. “He’s been against the kind of tax reform that I’ve been for in the Congress.

“Sen. Simon’s record is clear. He’s resisted every major effort to reduce taxes for individual American families that’s come along,” Gephardt added. “This is a man who is against tax cuts for middle-income Americans.”

Decided to Attack

In an interview, Gephardt said he finally decided to go on the attack against Simon and Dukakis on taxes because Simon had been hitting him so hard on his voting record on the issue.

“I guess it was two days ago when I flipped on the television, and I saw Paul Simon hold a press conference to denounce my tax votes in 1981 and 1986 for the twenty-fifth time, and I said, hey, this is ridiculous.”

But Gephardt insisted that, despite the mounting tension between the Simon and Gephardt camps over their negative campaign tactics aimed at each other, he still considers Simon a good friend. Gephardt said he and Simon, who are in a dogfight for second place here, have talked and shared pleasantries with each other at recent events.

“You never like an ad that says you’re not trustworthy,” said Gephardt, referring to a Simon ad questioning Gephardt’s voting record.

“But those things happen in campaigns. He’s a good person, He’s decent.”