N.H. Labor Day Parade Draws GOP Candidates

Texas Gov. George W. Bush on Monday won the best float award in a Labor Day parade he didn’t attend.

Gary Bauer, Elizabeth Hanford Dole, Steve Forbes and Dan Quayle did attend. They shook hands with parents toting cameras and tossed candy to scurrying children.

Bush, who arrived in Manchester on Monday afternoon, had a look-alike on his float, which also featured a look-alike Theodore Roosevelt and photos of every Republican president this century.

“The judging had nothing to do with popularity, but I would say Bush is very popular here in Milford,” said Robert Philbrick, organizer of the Labor Day parade for the last 35 years.

Forbes spoke at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall, decrying a “hollowing out” of the military. He said it is wrong for the government to put Americans in uniform while not spending enough on defense to protect them.

“They’ve reduced our Army’s strength by 50%; our Air Force, 50%; the Navy, almost 40%,” Forbes said. “This is not a money issue or a military issue. It’s a moral issue.”

At a picnic in Salem, Dole said she wants to put the IRS on a short leash.

Meanwhile, Quayle echoed the attacks on Bush that he and other Republicans have made throughout the campaign. “I don’t believe the people of New Hampshire or America want to just coronate someone,” he said.

Quayle acknowledged that he has serious obstacles in the campaign--mainly, raising money.

“Money is a factor,” he said. “I’ve been outspent in elections before and won, but I’ve never been outspent 10 or 20 to 1.”

Gary Bauer, who finished a three-day visit to New Hampshire on Monday, said his campaign received its 90,000th donation during the trip. That’s more contributions than Forbes’ 40,000-plus or Arizona Sen. John McCain’s 35,000.

Earlier in the day, Bush told crowds in South Carolina that outsiders should stay out of the state’s divisive battle over the flying of the Confederate flag.

Remarking on an NAACP-led tourism boycott, Bush drew cheers from festival-goers in Simpsonville when he said: “My advice is for people who don’t live in South Carolina to butt out of the issue. The people of South Carolina can make that decision.”