Forbes Pressures Bush for Debate

With two Democratic presidential contenders preparing to debate each other later this month, Republican presidential contender Steve Forbes on Saturday tried to turn up pressure on GOP front-runner George W. Bush to debate his rivals.

“If Al Gore can debate Bill Bradley, then Gov. Bush can debate me,” said Forbes, the wealthy publisher who also ran for president in 1996.

Forbes issued his challenge to Bush in a speech to the annual meeting of the Christian Coalition, where Forbes stepped up his effort to define himself as the leading conservative alternative to the Texas governor.

Bush shows no signs of changing his studied refusal to go head to head with fellow GOP candidates until Jan. 15, when he has agreed to a debate in Iowa.

“The governor looks forward to debating next year when people are paying attention,” Bush spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said.

Forbes used his speech to step up his attack on Bush as insufficiently committed to the causes social conservatives hold dear, such as fighting abortion, supporting school choice and cutting government spending.

He criticized Bush for declining to promise that his running mate and all judges he would appoint as president would be committed to opposing abortion.

“We should not hesitate to state, as I will, that judges must be appointed who believe in the sanctity of the Constitution and the sanctity of life,” Forbes said. “And in choosing a vice presidential candidate, that individual must have those basic principles also.”

Bush addressed the coalition Friday, in a speech that was comparatively light on conservative touchstone issues. Still, he received a rousing welcome--and surprisingly fulsome praise from Pat Robertson, head of the group.

Speaking Saturday on CNN’s “Evans, Novak, Hunt & Shields,” Robertson all but predicted that Bush would be the GOP nominee.

“It’s certainly his to lose,” Robertson said. “The challenger, of course, is Steve Forbes, who has a lot of money and he’s coming on strong, but I don’t know that he’s going to come on that strong.”

Forbes has worked hard to win the allegiance of Christian conservatives since his failed 1996 bid for the GOP presidential nomination, when he gave that wing of the party short shrift and instead focused on tax reform and other economic issues.

His appeal to the Christian Coalition comes at a crucial moment for his campaign and for the political clout of social conservatives. The field of Republican candidates most closely associated with the conservative wing of the party is dwindling and in great flux. Former Vice President Dan Quayle has dropped out of the race. Patrick J. Buchanan has said he may leave the GOP to seek the Reform Party nomination. Sen. Bob Smith (I-N.H.) has already quit the party to run as an independent.

Forbes received an enthusiastic reception from activists attending the Christian Coalition meeting, which had already heard from five other GOP presidential hopefuls. But even some of his fans conceded he faced long odds against Bush.