March 16, 1999
Web posted at: 4:47 p.m. EST (2147 GMT)

CONCORD, New Hampshire (AllPolitics, March 16) -- Promising a "citizens' campaign" and a revamped tax code, Steve Forbes kicked off his quest for the Republican presidential nomination in person Tuesday afternoon, hours after he had initially announced it on the Internet.

"The theme of our campaign is very simple, and that is to make possible a rebirth, a new birth of freedom in America -- freedom from the Internal Revenue Service," Forbes said.

Steve Forbes, shown here with his wife, Sabina, and daughter, Elizabeth, announced Tuesday that he is a candidate for the Republican nomination for president

Speaking at a rally in front of the New Hampshire Statehouse, Forbes emphasized education, defense and health care, as well as the call for a flat tax that was the mainstay of his 1996 bid for the nomination.

"It's time to get the government back in the hands of the American people to have a government that we can once again be proud of, instead of ashamed of," Forbes said.

A self-described Reagan Republican, Forbes used a series of television ads promoting his flat-tax crusade to win primaries in Delaware and Arizona and helped shape the debate in the 1996 campaign before fading from contention.

For the 2000 race, his campaign has evolved both with a broader message and with a new approach on how to get that message out. He first announced his candidacy Tuesday morning on his newly inaugurated Web site.

"This is going to be a new, information-age campaign about great ideas and enduring values," Forbes told users visiting the site Forbes2000.com

"You and I are entering the information age, and Washington politicians are stuck in the Stone Age."

The flat-tax advocate reiterated his desire to abolish the tax code as well as protect Social Security and curb abortions.

Forbes' Web site will also include reports from campaign "reporters" submitted directly to the site; digital photos filed from the road; and a volunteer section for supporters. The campaign hopes their Web site will offer voters unfiltered, in-depth information about Forbes' positions and allow users to build their own committee structure.

The launch of the campaign on the Internet underscores a drastically different approach from Forbes' unsuccessful 1996 run, when his stance on abortion and other social issues alienated the religious right.

Since then, Forbes has worked to win over Republican conservatives with an anti-abortion stance and other issues important to the right, such as school choice, and making English the official language.

He also has concentrated his spending on recruiting talented organizers and has built a strong grassroots organization.

The 51-year-old multimillionaire is the son of the late publishing giant, Malcolm Forbes. Steve Forbes is the CEO of Forbes, Inc., and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes magazine.

Forbes joins a crowded field of potential formidable GOP candidates, including Texas Gov. George W. Bush; Elizabeth Dole, the former head of the American Red Cross; New Hampshire Senator Bob Smith; former Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander; conservative commentator Pat Buchanan; former Vice President Dan Quayle; House Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich; and activist Gary Bauer.

CNN's Carin Dessauer and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tuesday, March 16, 1999

• Medicare commission's failure doesn't mean debate will go away
• Paying for prescription drugs worries Medicare recipients
• Forbes announces candidacy via Internet
• Hillary Rodham Clinton testimony played at McDougal trial
• White House, Congress, reach agreement on missile defense bill
• Excerpts from Hillary Rodham Clinton's videotape grand jury testimony
• Chafee's son to run for Senate seat
• Clinton to draft his own Medicare rescue plan
• Attorney General to oppose independent counsel law
• Democrats assail bankruptcy bill as tough on children
• Congress considers savings plans
• Dangers of ice prove to be bipartisan
• GOP pushes to scrap income tax code
• Senate GOP begins budget push
• Former U.S. Attorney David Lillehaug enters 2000 Senate race
• Republicans cite government shutdown in fund-raising letter
• Vietnam veteran gives Cleland new version of grenade blast
• A century of women's progress noted behind once-forbidding doors
• $3B left unspent from welfare funds
• Report: Jones couple separate, say divorce unlikely
• President's council decides against single food safety authority
• Bill to protect nursing home residents goes to president
• HMO group to require outside appeals

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