<< Back 10/23/02 Bowles’ positions will do more to help state By Scott McLeod Earlier this summer I had the chance to watch Elizabeth Dole in action as she stumped in Western North Carolina. The former Red Cross president and Labor Secretary cuts an imposing swathe on the campaign trail, possessing intellect, grace and a deep understanding on a wide range of issues. She’s personable and warm, and it seems everywhere she goes in this state she runs into old friends who remember her from when she went to Duke or from her summers spent at Lake Junaluska. She is a celebrity with the kind of name recognition that one would expect of a woman who has flirted with the presidency and worked for five chief executives. But when it comes time to cast a vote for a new senator in this state, I’m going to support Erskine Bowles. For North Carolina right now, I believe he’s the person whose stand on the issues can help the most as we try and retool our economy and work our way out of the recession that has settled upon the land. In many ways these two candidates are similar. Both have a long record of public service and resumes which few in this state could hope to match. Dole, 66, served several Republican presidents. Bowles,57, was chief of staff for Bill Clinton and directed the Small Business Administration. Both have earned the respect of many in Washington for their service . Republicans in this state — particularly state Republican Party Chairman Bill Cobey, have been unmerciful in their attacks on Bowles for serving under Clinton. Our fax line at this newspaper has strained under the heavy load of diatribes from the party, each one referencing the Clinton-Bowles relationship as if it was some unsavory union in a sleazy motel. Yes, Bill Clinton’s personal problems clouded his presidency. When the president calls, though, as he did for Bowles, it’s a rare American that will say no. Bowles went to Washington and did his job. There is not a shred of evidence that he possesses any of the personal failings of Clinton; in fact, one reason his leadership was sought by the president is that he is so well known as a straight shooter. Some Democrats are taking shots at Dole by describing her as a kind of carpetbagger, a woman who left the state for 30 years and returned only when it offered her the chance to become a U.S. senator. These character issues, though, don’t hold a lot of water for me. In this race, I think both candidates are good people who sincerely want to do right by the voters. Yes, they have been tarnished by the political machines by acquiescing to negative ads and some unfair potshots. Underneath, though, I believe we have two qualified and caring candidates. So it is the issues that voters should weigh. As our longtime Sen. Jesse Helms steps down, North Carolinians should look beyond personality and sift through the issues. The power of incumbency is well noted in American politics, so the person who wins this Senate race will likely serve the people of this state for some time to come. One of the most sharp and well-defined differences between the two candidates is on taxes. Dole, in recent debates, has noted with pride that she has signed a “no tax” pledge. She has vowed to maintain the the Bush tax cuts that were implemented in 2001. Given the fiscal reality this country faces right now — a war in Afghanistan and one likely in Iraq, growing costs for homeland security, the need to retrain workers, growing doubts about the solvency of Social Security, and federal budget deficits that threaten to wipe out any possible economic recovery — those tax cuts have become problematic. Look, if these tax cuts were putting money in the pockets of the working people of North Carolina or the unemployed, then perhaps they would be easier to support. But they are, for the most part, tax cuts for the wealthy. Middle- and lower-income families aren’t seeing but a small speck of the money. Dole and Bush don’t tell people that when they are stumping for votes at the VFW. This isn’t to say that Erskine Bowles is ready to go to Washington and hike taxes. However, he did outline a scenario where some of the Bush tax cuts that are set to hit the books in the coming years might be frozen, delayed or even overturned. “I am saying right here that if given a choice of paying a prescription drug benefit to our senior citizens in a fiscally responsible manner or freezing the taxes for the top 1 percent ... then I would vote to free those taxes for the top 1 percent and pay that prescription drug benefit,” said Bowles last week in one of the debates. When the federal budget was finally balanced under Bill Clinton, politicians and business people throughout the land rejoiced. Restrained federal spending is a soothing salve to the economy, but the Bush tax cuts which mostly benefit the super-wealthy are undermining the solvency of the federal government, particularly given the costly war on terrorism that we are now fighting. Social Security is another key difference in between the two candidates. The federal program to provide money for seniors is projected to begin operating in the red in 15 years. Politicians in Washington have yet to devise a plan to keep it solvent. Bowles refuses to support allowing people to invest the money in the stock market. He, correctly, points to the looming budget deficits as the most immediate threat to the Social Security system. Taming that beast, he says, will protect our seniors. Dole, on the other hand, wants to allow younger workers to invest a part of their payroll taxes in the stock market. She says that won't affect the benefits of those who are now paying in, but if less goes into the trust fund there will be less to pay needy seniors. That’s a risky scenario for people who rely on Social Security as their sole income during retirement. Bowles has also done some recent work in North Carolina that gives him a unique perspective among the candidates. He headed the Rural Prosperity Task Force, chairing meetings throughout the state where local leaders laid out their hopes and plans for boosting development and growing local economies. That’s experience a only a longtime, full-time resident can get, and it will serve him well as a senator. While I’m discussing candidates, we also should point out an issue of local importance — and one that reveals a campaign just a little out of touch with our region. Dole, in answers to campaign questions published recently in the Asheville Citizen-Times, said she supported the position of Charles Taylor on the North Shore Road. That is, she wanted to federal government to finish the Road to Nowhere that was promised along the north shore of Lake Fontana. A few days later, though, under questioning from Smoky Mountain News reporter Don Hendershot, Dole’s campaign folks flip-flopped. No, they said, Dole wants local leaders to resolve the issue. The point is that, perhaps in her years of public service living out of North Carolina, Dole has gotten a little out of touch with local issues. It’s a judgment call on may part, but it’s worth weighing when we are choosing a senator. One other trait of the two candidates is worth discussing. The ability to step outside one’s party leadership and think independently is what has defined Jesse Helms. When I trailed Dole on the stump, she took great pride in the fact that she has a personal relationship with Dick Cheney and George Bush. “They will return my calls,” she said. But being able to defy the leadership to do what’s right for the folks back home is something we need in a U.S. senator. This is a characteristic that is difficult to ascertain, but Dole’s campaign is heavy on her relationship with the current White House. Voters should look at the record of both candidates and determine which they think will show the most independence. This newspaper is not going to make political endorsements. Most weeks we have an editorial on the left-hand column of this page that represents the views of our “editorial board.” The truth, though, is that our staff is small and our editorial board is mostly me having informal discussions with other staff members about the issues we write about. So I decided to discuss this race and put my face on it. I believe the budget deficits and the looming insolvency of the Social Security fund are two of the most important issues facing this country’s economy. Bowles’ prescription for dealing with those problems is conservative and cautionary, and those traits will serve this state’s citizens well at this time. (Scott McLeod can be reached at info@smokymountainnews.com)