Surrogates Assail Clinton on Character

As Republican presidential contender Bob Dole kept to the high road Friday, his surrogates stepped in to disparage President Clinton’s character--but, in the process, laid open deep divisions within the campaign over strategy.

At a rally here in self-proclaimed “Flag City USA,” Rep. Michael G. Oxley (R-Ohio) raised the specter of Whitewater and the FBI files affair as he lauded Dole for the “trustworthiness and honor he brought to the Senate.”

Former Education Secretary William J. Bennett, long a spokesman for conservative values, struggled through fog to join the candidate here in the critical Buckeye State and blasted Clinton for breaking his word.

In a long interview with reporters aboard the Dole caravan through Ohio, Bennett laid out what he called a “systematic” Republican assault on Clinton that he said would be unveiled next week.

The attack would focus on a litany of “issues of public trust” ranging from Clinton’s criticisms of Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr to the possibility of presidential pardons in the Whitewater case, he said.

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The one-two punch from Bennett and Oxley capped a week of contention in the Republican Party over who will be Bob Dole’s hired gun and attack the president on the potent campaign issue of what the GOP is struggling to frame as serious lapses in character and judgment.

But there were further signs of the disagreements within Dole’s campaign over where to turn. Bennett told reporters he was speaking in his official capacity as national vice chairman of Dole’s campaign--and argued that the Republican ticket had been “too easy” on the Clinton administration, “given what they deserve.”

Not long afterward a top campaign aide denied that.

Bennett was speaking for himself and had not cleared his remarks with either Dole or top campaign advisors in advance, the aide said.

“Bill Bennett is speaking about one path the campaign may take, and that would be a legitimate path for us to follow,” according to the aide. “But the decision about how to proceed rests with Bob Dole. He has neither made nor decided to announce that decision yet.”

The political situation Dole faces was underlined by the location where the exchange took place. Throughout his two-day bus trip in Ohio, Dole has campaigned in Republican bastions--areas like this one that voted in favor of then-President Bush in 1992, even though the state as a whole went narrowly to Clinton.

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He is solidifying his base, Dole said, noting earlier the Barry Goldwater adage: “You go hunting where the ducks are.” But with fewer than four weeks remaining before the election, many Republicans believe the time is long past for base-solidifying.

Bennett, who has been among those critical of campaign strategy, denied that the attack tactic he advocates is an act of desperation. “I don’t think it’s negative,” he said. “I don’t think it’s desperate. I don’t feel either negative or desperate. I feel frustrated.”

“I’m not talking about the trailer park stuff,” Bennett said. “I’m not talking about philandering. . . . these are not peccadilloes, these are not small things.”

Dole, himself, has made clear his distaste for getting personally involved in attacks on Clinton--although he has been willing to criticize the president sharply on ideological differences.

On an ABC “Nightline” interview late Thursday, Dole said he would “like to win, but there’s certain limits.”

“I can’t see myself getting into the mud here in the last three weeks,” Dole said. “I think whatever happens I want to be at peace with myself when it’s over.”

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So, come Friday morning, the hired guns took aim:

Oxley introduced Dole here with a riff on honor, trust and Dole’s Senate career.

Dole is “going to bring that same trust and honor to the presidency of the United States,” Oxley said. “And don’t we need it. And don’t we need it.

“Under a Dole-Kemp administration, we’re not going to have abuse of FBI files,” Oxley continued. “We’re not going to have members of the administration going off to jail after the administration promised the most ethical administration in the history of this country.”

Bennett said in the interview that his frustration with the Dole campaign has been growing over the past several weeks and that he has discussed his concerns with top campaign advisors Vin Weber, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick and Donald H. Rumsfeld and campaign manager Scott Reed. Later, however, he admitted that he had not told Reed about what Friday’s remarks would be until after he made them.

“I’ve discussed my concerns with Sen. Bob Dole, that fundamental issues are not being addressed” he said.

Bennett’s list of alleged Clinton offenses that he wants the campaign to exploit included:

* The FBI files incident in which the administration procured copies of confidential files on several hundred former White House employees, including some prominent Republicans. White House spokesmen have blamed the incident on an innocent bureaucratic blunder--an explanation Republicans consider unbelievable.

* Clinton’s political and financial relationship to Indonesian businessman James Riady, whose family and business partners have contributed heavily to the Democratic Party.

* Hillary Rodham Clinton’s involvement in an Arkansas land deal that grew out of Whitewater. “The FDIC [Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.] inspector general said that the documents prepared by Mrs. Clinton were prepared to deceive federal bank examiners,” Bennett charged, somewhat misleadingly. The FDIC report said that the document prepared by Mrs. Clinton was used by others to deceive bank examiners but did not say it was prepared with that intention in mind.

* Use of the Justice Department to indict former White House travel office director Billy R. Dale.