November 11, 1999
Web posted at: 1:25 p.m. EST (1825 GMT)

CONCORD, New Hampshire (NHPrimary.com) -- This was a day for Republican presidential front-runner George W. Bush to praise – not try to bury – his closest GOP competitor, U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

The Texas governor officially filed Wednesday to place his name on the Feb. 1 first-in-the-nation primary ballot.

Choosing to arrive on the eve of Veterans Day, Bush went out of his way to salute the service of McCain, a decorated prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.

"I can understand why people would be for Senator John McCain, why they would choose a man of his caliber. He served with distinction in the military, he’s a noble man, he’s a good guy,’’ Bush told New Hampshire reporters during a news conference.

"I’ve campaigned with him, I’ve campaigned for him and now I’m campaigning against him, but I do so in a spirit of camaraderie. I don’t view him as an enemy, I view him as a friend.’’

Later, Bush told a cheering crowd of several hundred supporters outside the Statehouse that he intends to win in the state and go on to become the next president.

"I am honored so many have turned out. I have just filed my papers. I am in and I intend to win,’’ Bush said to the boisterous crowd, which attracted several groups of polite protesters on issues such as campaign finance reform, long-term care and more domestic federal spending.

Bush made light of flunking a pop quiz on foreign leaders last week on a Boston television newscast.

"My wife said, ‘When you get up to New Hampshire, don’t try to be debonair and witty. Just be yourself,’’’ Bush quipped.

"And then she said, ‘Don’t show off and try and name all the leaders in the free world.’’’

But Bush refuted his critics who contend he is a complete neophyte on foreign policy.

"I don’t think anybody ought to be throwing stones who is running for the presidency because none of us have assumed the office of the presidency. There is no incumbent in this race,’’ Bush said.

"Each of us had different experiences. There’s a foreign policy component to being governor of Texas and that’s dealing with Mexico and Central America and South America.’’

A spate of polls in the GOP primary put Bush in the lead, but by a much smaller margin than two months ago.

The lead over McCain in New Hampshire has shrunk to between 7 and 12 percentage points of late.

"If I had to guess why Senator McCain is doing so well it’s probably because people respect him and so do I. He’s a good man,’’ Bush said.

But the Bush and McCain campaigns did joust Wednesday over how much support Bush really has among New Hampshire veterans.

Bush announced a 15-member group of veteran leaders on his team, many of whom were past political appointees or on the staffs of former GOP Govs. Judd Gregg and Steve Merrill, both of whom are with Bush in this race.

"I am honored to have the support of these courageous men and women,’’ Bush said in a statement.

McCain is expected to announce today at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 483 in Nashua a veteran leadership group of 500 who will help mobilize a list of 10,000 veterans in the state who have told the campaign they support McCain.

"Their (Bush’s) veteran leaders are partisan, political activists who surely are veterans but not leaders of organized veteran groups,’’ said Mike Dennehy, McCain’s state campaign manager.

"As long as they want to try and fight on our turf, that’s fine with us.’’

Bush said he enlisted in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War because he wanted to become a fighter pilot.

Bush state campaign chief Joel Maiola said many more veterans are already with Bush than the list the campaign released.

"This leadership team we have is an outreach group. I’m pleased by the level of support we’ve already gotten from veterans,’’ Maiola said.

Asked if he would oppose any effort to take away New Hampshire’s first primary in 2004, Bush didn’t say but instead claimed to already have demonstrated a commitment to the state’s status.

"I had an opportunity to diminish the first-in-the-nation primary status in New Hampshire. I did not do so. I made it very clear to states that were crowding out New Hampshire that I was going to honor the tradition and history of the first-in-the-nation primary,’’ Bush said.

"I’ve got a record and I think this is an incredibly important part of the political process.’’

Past efforts to take away New Hampshire’s primary status have failed, Bush noted.

"There have been plans election cycle after election cycle and here we sit in New Hampshire in its primacy of helping to determine who the next Republican presidential nominee is going to be,’’ Bush said.

Bush later declined to spell out how he would eliminate the front-loading of primaries as in 2000, when more than three dozen states will pick delegates by the end of March.

"You are asking a man in the middle of the card game to reshuffle the deck. I’m playing the hand I was dealt. I’m working hard, I have a good chance of winning, but I take nothing for granted,’’ Bush said.

Later, Bush did not say if he will propose a detailed plan to reform Social Security, as have rivals Steve Forbes and Gary Bauer.

Bush said he does favor a "lock box’’ law to prevent raiding the trust fund to balance the federal budget.

Bush also endorsed the concept of personal savings accounts that would allow wage-earners to privately invest some of their Social Security tax payments.

"I wonder out loud if this administration wants to solve Social Security or whether it would like to have it around as a political issue,’’ he said.

Bush called for biennial or two-year budgeting that he said would reduce the fights between Congress and the president each year over spending and tax priorities.

"I think the budget process has become an annual ritual where government locks down,’’ Bush said.

A key Bush supporter in the state, U.S. Rep. Charles Bass, R-N.H., has authored a bill calling for the U.S. government to move to a two-year budget cycle. That is now done in more than a dozen states, including New Hampshire and Bush’s home state of Texas

"I am one who thinks we can have a more stabilizing process,’’ Bush said.

Thursday, November 11, 1999

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• Candidates court war veterans on last Veterans Day before 2000 election
• White House and GOP negotiators agree on plan for 100,000 new teachers, search for extra funds
• Polls: McCain ties Bush in New Hampshire; Bradley gains support in New York, Iowa
• NHPrimary.com: Bush refrains from attacking 'good guy' McCain
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• Democrats disagree on patent extension for allergy drug
• Lawmakers agree to restore Medicare cuts
• Analysis: Vice President Al Gore's health care ad
• Analysis: Presidential campaigns put some contestants in 'Jeopardy'
• House promotes fatherhood in low-income families
• Republicans reject White House offer on expiring tax items
• Speaker: Party loyalty big factor in vote on Mississippi governor
• Citing differences, Lewinsky attorney Ginsburg changes law firms
• Forbes bases growing challenge on campaign machinery
• Early hunt for communists in California marked by blunders
• Lady Bird Johnson hospitalized after fainting at home
• Clinton: Veterans paved way for peace

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