Letting Economy Grow Is Key, Kemp Says

GOP vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp told hundreds of local city officials here Monday that he and Bob Dole have an agenda to help Californians struggling to get ahead.

“The answer to California’s economy, families and cities is not higher taxes, more unfunded mandates, more ridiculous regulations, more frivolous lawsuits, more porous borders or more disregard for our inner cities,” Kemp said.

Rather, Kemp told a bipartisan crowd at the California League of Cities conference at the Anaheim Convention Center, “The real answer to the problems of our cities is to get Washington out of the way . . . and by letting the economy grow freely without the fetters of excessive regulation, over-litigation, and confiscatory taxation.”

The former secretary of housing and urban development said Californians would benefit from reduced taxes, a revamped tax code and a renewed push for capitalism in the impoverished inner cities.

Praising the entrepreneurial spirit he said thrives in California, Kemp told of his father, who had started a trucking company in Los Angeles years ago with only one truck. He gave the firm the grandiose name California Delivery Service.

“How’s that for optimism?” he said.

Kemp has not lived in California for more than 30 years, but he said in an interview aboard his plane that he identifies “with the entrepreneurial spirit and the aspirations” of the state’s residents.

Although President Clinton is polling well ahead of Dole in the state, campaign advisors are buoyed by the latest Field Poll, which showed the president’s lead had been cut in half to 10 points.

Wayne Berman, Kemp’s campaign manager, said a key reason for the tightening race is that Republican bedrock areas such as Orange County have moved more solidly behind the Dole ticket.

Kemp’s visit was designed to reinforce that strength, while future trips will likely target independent suburban areas such as the Inland Empire and San Joaquin Valley, aides said.

“We’re fully committed to California,” Berman said. “Kemp is going to be here and Dole is going to be here regular and often.”

Kemp was ending a three-day swing through the state that included stops in Stockton, Irvine, Garden Grove and San Diego.

Next week, Kemp will attend the San Diego Chargers game. Kemp, a quarterback for the Chargers in the late 1960s before he was traded to the Buffalo Bills, frequently arranges his schedule so he can tune into big games.