Forbes Faults Foes, Fed

Steve Forbes blasted Republican presidential rivals who "stand for nothing" as he opened a noisy bus caravan Monday, aimed at toning his organizational muscle.

"The idea that you can go through a campaign and just not say anything is not going to work," Forbes said in setting the theme for his swing. "You need a message to win. You have to have that principled message."

He quickly expanded that theme Monday, blaming a sagging farm economy on "the high priests of high finances."

Those high priests, he said, sit on the Federal Reserve. He said the Fed's tight money policy had contributed to farmers' financial woes. And he said he's uniquely qualified to confront them.

"I'm the only candidate who knows enough to challenge them," said Forbes, a multimillionaire publisher from Bedminster, N.J. "There's no way they're going to intimidate or bully me."

The issue is touchy in Iowa because farm commodity prices are at historic lows, though most of the economy is doing well.

In his latest swing through the state where precinct caucuses launch the nominating season, Forbes was crisscrossing Iowa in a pair of brightly decorated buses with music blaring from speakers on the roof, stopping in small towns to mingle with voters.

At his first stop Monday, about 150 people cheered Forbes at a breakfast meeting.

The bus caravan was yet another sign that Forbes is approaching this campaign differently than the one he ran in 1996, when he relied almost exclusively on an expensive television ad effort. This time, Forbes has hired talented organizers and spent time building a grass-roots organization one voter at a time.

Forbes was the latest to take aim at Texas Gov. George W. Bush, criticized by most of his rivals for the GOP presidential nomination as being vague on the issues.

"You've got to get the message to the people and there's no substitute for doing it one on one," the magazine publisher said. "You have to ask people for their support and that's how you build it. There's just no shortcut, and you have to work hard."

Most polls have shown Bush with a solid lead among Republicans, and running ahead of Vice President Al Gore, leading some Republicans to his camp because they believe he is the one candidate who can win back the White House.

Forbes rejected that argument.

"It's very tempting at a time like this to give in to the siren calls of 'We must win this election,'" said Forbes. "In the eyes of some, that means 'Stand for nothing, or keep it as vague as possible.'"

When reporters later asked Forbes if that was directed at Bush, he noted that he has challenged Bush to debates and pointed to historical comparisons about the upcoming GOP convention in Philadelphia.

"The last Republican convention in Philadelphia was 1948 when they nominated a governor from a big state who was ahead n the polls and looked like a sure winner," said Forbes. "The man's name was Tom Dewey."

Coupled with the advertising, Forbes' bus swing was aimed at assembling support for a high-profile straw poll next month that has taken on significance.

"It's designed to energize our people," said consultant John Maxwell. "The advertising is a complement to the ground game and not a replacement."

Campaign aides were focusing on that organizational effort as the swing opened, passing out pledge cards, promising $25 tickets to the straw poll and buses to bring backers to the event.

Written by Mike Glover