Dole Backs Clinton’s Effort to Curb Teen Smoking

Trying to put the festering tobacco issue behind him and signaling a possible shift of position, Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole issued a terse statement Saturday supporting President Clinton’s new effort to curb teenage smoking.

Dole, who found himself mired in a flap earlier this year after suggesting nicotine is not necessarily addictive, said he was “pleased” that Clinton “has finally recognized the dangers of teen smoking.”

The statement by the GOP candidate referred to a series of measures Clinton unveiled Friday that, in large part, aim to reduce tobacco use among young people by limiting the advertising and availability of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco.

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Dole’s statement, however, omitted any direct comment on Clinton’s declaration that nicotine is an addictive drug and the specific regulations he approved that give the Food and Drug Administration broad jurisdiction to regulate tobacco.

“We’re still reviewing the specifics of the regulations,” said Nelson Warfield, Dole’s press secretary. “It took the FDA more than a year to promulgate them; it will take us more than a few days to digest them.”

Two months ago, in his last public comments on the issue, Dole strongly questioned the FDA’s jurisdiction to regulate tobacco. His endorsement Saturday of the premise behind many of the new rules and his decision to review the regulations rather than reject them out of hand suggest that he may be tempering his view of the FDA’s authority. But he did criticize Clinton for taking “more than three years” to crack down on teenage smoking.

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In his statement, Dole said: “I’m proud of my long and consistent record of supporting common-sense measures to keep tobacco products out of the hands of minors. The bottom line is that no teenager in America should ever try cigarettes or start smoking.”

Dole campaigned on his own Saturday in New Orleans and Tampa, Fla., as he and his running mate, Jack Kemp, ended a string of joint appearances made since the end of the Republican National Convention earlier this month. Kemp campaigned in South Dakota and Washington state.

At their rallies, both men vigorously promoted the GOP ticket’s tax-cutting, “pro-growth” economic agenda.

In Chicago, meanwhile, many of the 4,320 delegates to the Democratic National Convention streamed into town for various receptions and other special events. The theatrics surrounding the convention were in full swing--the Blue Angels conducted maneuvers over the city’s skyscrapers during the day and fireworks exploded overhead at an evening welcoming party.

Also arriving before the convention’s start on Monday was Vice President Al Gore, who spoke briefly to a crowd of supporters at Grant Park, scene of clashes between police and those protesting the Vietnam War at the infamous 1968 Democratic convention.

Gore listed a range of first-term accomplishments by the Clinton administration, from creation of 10 million jobs to a lower federal budget deficit. But his listeners responded with their loudest cheer when he jokingly claimed credit for the recent record-setting championship season by the city’s NBA team, the Bulls.

As Gore spoke, a small group of sign-waving demonstrators gathered nearby without incident to press a variety of causes, mainly the legalization of marijuana. They were separated from the vice president by thick fencing and a line of police officers.

Earlier, a larger contingent of demonstrators briefly stopped traffic on Michigan Avenue in the heart of Chicago’s shopping district. The demonstrators, carrying signs saying “Legalize Hemp” and “Stop the Drug War Now,” were peacefully escorted by about 40 police officers.

The crowds of Saturday afternoon shoppers on the sidewalks seemed mostly amused by the disruption; several hoisted their children up so the youngsters could view the scene.

The convention’s main guest of honor, Clinton, boards a train dubbed the “21st Century Express” today in West Virginia for a multi-state tour. He is due to arrive Wednesday in Michigan City, Ind., near Chicago.

Dole and Kemp began their campaigning Saturday by jointly delivering the GOP’s weekly response to Clinton’s radio address.

Dole opened by promoting his economic agenda--which includes a 15% cut in income tax rates, halving the capital gains tax and a $500-per-child tax credit--and said the public response to the proposal “has been overwhelmingly positive.”

Dole said Clinton has offered no constructive economic proposals of his own, only “a harsh and negative advertising campaign, hoping to scare you into believing that our plan would harm Americans who rely on Medicare.”

Kemp criticized the Clinton administration for being content with an annual 2.3% economic growth rate, adding: “President Clinton may be satisfied with the status quo, but Bob Dole and I are not.”

After the address, Dole traveled to a rally in Tampa, Fla., where he vowed to an audience composed largely of senior citizens that he would not cut Medicare or Social Security to help fund his six-year, $548-billion tax-cut plan.

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“We’re trying to save the programs. We’re going to save the programs,” he said.

Clearly wary that Clinton may propose some tax cuts of his own during his convention acceptance speech Thursday, Dole reminded his listeners that the president had made a similar pledge during the 1992 campaign only to reverse course once elected and push through Congress a $265-billion tax increase.

The fundamental choice facing voters in November is which man is more trustworthy, Dole said, adding: “It’s time to choose leadership you can trust.”

Kemp made his first stop in Watertown, S.D., founded in 1879 by his great-grandfather, Oscar Kemp, and his great-uncle. He then campaigned in the Seattle area, headlining a boisterous picnic of party activists at a private farm on Vashon Island.

Emphasizing the GOP’s economic theme calling for “the spirit of the American people to be unleashed,” Kemp pledged a revision of federal tax laws early in a new Republican administration.

“Let me let you in on some really good news. That tax cut and the tax relief and cutting capital-gains tax rates by 50%, estate tax relief, that’s just the start. We’re going to do that in the first 100 days. Well, maybe a couple hundred days,” Kemp told the cheering rally, estimated by organizers at 12,000.

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“We’re going to take the U.S. Tax Code, and we’re going to repeal the whole monstrosity that is called the U.S. tax system,” he declared. “We’re not going to be satisfied until there is a job for every single man and woman in America who wants one.”

Kemp also repeated the call for greater choice between public and private schooling.

“We can break the monopoly that’s been held by the [National Education Assn.] over the public education of America, and we can turn education back to the teachers, the principals and the families. That’s where it belongs,” he said.

Dole and Kemp are to reunite in Portland, Ore., todayn and then head for California to begin working vacations--Dole in Santa Barbara and Kemp in Laguna Beach. They plan a joint appearance in Orange County on Friday before departing. On his way to the West Coast, Dole is scheduled to appear today in suburban Chicago at a GOP picnic--for “just a little pre-convention visit,” as he told the Tampa rally.

Times staff writers Marc Lacey and David Lauter in Chicago and Kim Murphy in Seattle contributed to this story.