Dole Slams Clinton Crime Record

OMAHA, Nebraska (CNN, May 11) -- Republican presidential hopeful Bob Dole vowed Saturday to wage war on crime, promising to build as many prison cells as it takes to keep hard-core criminals off the streets.

Flanked by a monument to 22 police officers killed in the line of duty, the Senate majority leader criticized President Clinton's judicial appointments and accused him of having a liberal attitude toward criminals.

In a get-tough speech outside Omaha police headquarters, the Kansas senator called the president's crime policies mere rhetoric and suggested that a Clinton program to beef up police patrols nationwide did not go far enough.

"He claims he's putting 100,000 cops on the street, but the real number is only a fraction of that," Dole told a crowd mourning a slain police officer.

Before his remarks, Dole laid a wreath at the memorial in honor of Jimmy Wilson Jr., a 24-year-old police officer shot to death last year during a routine traffic stop.

Later Saturday, in an afternoon speech to the Kentucky GOP State Convention, Dole included the first lady in his indictment of the Clinton White House.

"Who knows what he'd do without the restraint of a re-election," Dole said. "All the liberalism he can think of -- and all his wife can think of -- will come bubbling to the surface."

On the broader issue of ideology, Dole repeated a claim that has become a campaign speech staple: that Bill Clinton talks right but governs left.

"We all know that too often this administration talks conservatively while walking knee deep in the swamp of liberalism," Dole said. (77K WAV sound)

Dole is on a 26-hour, three-state campaign swing through Delaware, Nebraska and Kentucky this weekend.

Dole Slams Clinton Crime Record

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