White House Assails Clinton on Global Policy

The White House on Monday launched a scathing assault on Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton’s foreign policy credentials as President Bush told voters that no issue in this election year would matter more than trust.

The attack, a major escalation of a White House effort to question the character and competence of the Democratic ticket, came as Clinton and running mate Al Gore began to challenge Bush’s foreign policy leadership.

Speaking a day after the two Democrats voiced sharp criticism of Bush Administration policies toward Yugoslavia and Iraq, White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said the Democrats’ remarks “show why this team is a long way from being qualified to lead the country.”

The White House was responding to a Clinton campaign statement calling upon the Administration to exercise “real leadership” and do more to stand up to Serbian aggression. Fitzwater called the proposal “reckless” and said Clinton “better do some more homework on foreign policy.”

On a daylong campaign trip, Bush himself never mentioned his rivals or their proposals directly. But as he began to reorient his campaign around the theme of trust, he warned darkly of late-night phone calls to the White House bringing news of trouble abroad.

Voters should put their faith, Bush said, in a candidate who has “the experience, the seasoning, the guts to do the right thing.”

And Gov. Tommy G. Thompson of Wisconsin reinforced the assault as he introduced the President at a campaign rally here. “If someone came to you saying he wanted to be your tour guide on a trip around the world, but then admitted he’d never left the South,” he asked, “would you go with him?”

The White House appeared determined Monday to squelch the bid by Clinton and Gore to establish themselves as rival authorities on foreign policy.

On Sunday, the Clinton campaign statement called upon the Administration to “act with the greatest possible urgency before it is too late” in isolating the Serbian regime.

Clinton urged that the blockade around Serbia be tightened to include stop-and-search operations at sea and that the international community charge the Serbian regime with war crimes. He said that if the cease-fire in Bosnia continues to be violated, the United States should take the lead in seeking U.N. authority for air strikes against those who persist in attacking humanitarian relief efforts.

In the meantime, Gore said Bush’s foreign policy was accountable for the recurrent standoffs between Iraq and the United States. He said the Administration had made a “serious miscalculation” in expecting that Saddam Hussein would be overthrown by the Iraqi people at the end of the Gulf War.

The White House did not respond initially to either attack. But when two reporters approached Fitzwater on Monday morning to ask about Clinton’s criticism, he shot back that “these comments and Mr. Gore’s comments on Iraq” were indicative of a team not yet qualified for national leadership.

On Monday, Clinton said he was “perplexed” by Fitzwater’s response. He defended the statement he issued Sunday as “very responsible.” He said the statement had been “carefully put together after I talked to Gore on the phone about it.”

Campaigning separately, Gore responded, “What do you expect Marlin Fitzwater to say? Bush and Quayle have nothing to offer except more of the same.”

The assault on the Democratic ticket’s ability in foreign policy came as Bush redoubled his efforts to drive home the theme that “when you go into the voting booth and pull the curtain behind you, trust matters.”

Bush mentioned the word “trust” nearly two dozen times in each of the nearly identical campaign speeches he delivered here and in Wyoming, Mich. Campaign spokesman Torie Clarke called the remarks an “escalation” in Republican tactics and said they were designed to call attention to “fundamental philosophical differences” between the President and Clinton.

The address, drafted by new chief speech writer Steve Provost, offered a new glimpse of the efforts by Bush and his struggling campaign to define themselves and their opponents.

“To lead a great nation, you must trust the people you lead,” Bush proclaimed, arguing that his approach to government reflected more faith in Americans than what he described as his rivals’ big-government approach.

“They say they want to put people first,” he told workers and guests at a baseball-card printing company here. “But if you look real close, the people that they put first are all on a government payroll. I stand with the flag-waving, yes, and the God-fearing, yes, and the tax-paying hard-working people of America.”

The more pointed message of the new appeal, however, was that Bush, more than Clinton, was worthy of the nation’s trust.

Telling workers and guests at the Outlook Graphics Corp. here about life in the White House, Bush acknowledged that late-night telephone calls to his private quarters sometimes carried news that was no more than routine.

“But occasionally it’s another voice--more serious, more solemn--carrying news of a powerful country, or asking how we should stand up to the ‘Baghdad bully’ halfway around the world,” Bush continued. “The American people need to know that the man who answers the phone has the experience, the seasoning to do the right thing. I believe I have proved I am that man.”

That Bush message could be undermined if Clinton proves successful in persuading voters that he offers an equally valid foreign policy alternative. Perhaps for that reason, the new round of exchanges between the two campaigns seemed to reflect a sense of urgency.

By urging the Administration to take the lead--if cease-fire violations persist--in seeking U.N. authorization for air strikes against Serbian forces, the Democratic nominee staked out an aggressive stance the White House has been reluctant to adopt.

And in demanding the prosecution of the Serbian regime for war crimes, he drew a pointed comparison in saying this was something the Administration “should have done long ago.”

None of the recommendations made by Clinton about Yugoslavia has been explicitly rejected by the White House. But Fitzwater was so poised Monday morning to attack the Democratic nominee that he waited for no more than an oral summary before labeling the proposals “reckless.”