Bush fires up supporters with Clinton-Gore scandals

PITTSBURGH - George W. Bush, invoking Clinton-Gore scandals, said Thursday that if elected president he would uphold the honor and dignity of the White House so Americans ''can once again respect their government.''

''In my administration, we will ask not only what is legal but what is right, not just what the lawyers allow but what the public deserves,'' Bush said as he campaigned beside popular Gulf War figure Colin Powell.

Though he didn't name specific events or controversies, Bush focused on negative images of the Democrats' past eight years in the White House, especially President Clinton's impeachment and Vice President Al Gore's declaration that there was ''no controlling legal authority'' concerning questionable fund-raising activities.

''In my administration, we'll make it clear there is the controlling legal authority of conscience,'' Bush said, interrupted repeatedly by applause and cheers at a rally. ''We will make people proud again, so that Americans who love their country can once again respect their government.''

Gore aides fired back that a Bush administration would hardly be free of controversy.

''They are trying to distract voters by trying to remind them of things that have gone on in the past instead of talking about the issues that are central to this election,'' said Gore spokeswoman Kym Spell. ''This election is about the future, not the past.''

Bush's speech on ''responsible leadership'' was designed to remind voters of what they wouldn't miss about the Clinton-Gore years. It also was a change of subject from recent stories in which critics have questioned Bush's education record in Texas and tax cut plans for the nation.

The tactic could be risky, however, raising the possibility of alienating swing voters who tell pollsters they don't like negative politics or motivating Democratic core voters loyal to Clinton.

The Gore campaign has kept Clinton out of the spotlight and away from campaigning with the vice president, concerned that swing voters - and particularly women - would be reminded of Clinton-Gore controversies. The president instead will campaign by himself beginning next week to help get out the vote in California and other states, possibly including Louisiana, Missouri, Kentucky and his home state of Arkansas.

Bush, meanwhile, has appeared with Powell and Sen. John McCain to help convince Americans that a two-term Texas governor with no foreign policy experience has what it takes to lead.

''He understands that the first responsibility of the president is to serve as commander in chief of the armed forces,'' Powell told the crowd.

''I'm prepared to assume this awesome responsibility, and I will be guided by principles and convictions that will not change,'' Bush said.

Bush carried his theme of ''changing the tone in Washington'' to airport rallies in Erie and Swanton, Ohio, where six Air National Guard fighter jets took off next to the hangar housing hordes of supporters, their afterburners lighting up the dark sky.

''If you can hear me, my message to that pilot is, 'Keep the faith in the military,''' Bush said. ''A new commander in chief is on the way.''

Bush's father, former President Bush, also stressed the integrity issue while campaigning in Pennsylvania for his son, telling 1,500 students and others at a rally at Cedar Crest College in Allentown that ''character does matter.''

''From the day he takes office we will have the highest ethical standards, no more sleazes, indictments,'' the former president said.

Candidate Bush said Gore's changing demeanor during their three debates is evidence that the vice president would be untrustworthy.

''A good leader is predictable; he doesn't try to be all things to all people, he doesn't change personalities - say, for a different debate,'' Bush said, struggling to finish the sentence through supportive shrieks and applause.

In the ornate Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall here beneath a giant inscription of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, the event felt more like a revival meeting.

Bush drove the crowd of several thousand supporters to its feet repeatedly with some of his sharpest rhetoric yet, suggesting that the Clinton-Gore administration's ''faint footprints'' on Social Security reform and education had been overshadowed by political tricks.

When he hit Gore on education, someone yelled from the balcony, ''Give 'em hell!'' When he accused the vice president of having a ''Washington knows best'' attitude, another supporter hollered, ''Send him home!''

Political opportunism, Bush said, has been the guiding force of the Clinton-Gore administration.

''They're going out as they came in: their guide, the nightly polls; their goal, the morning headlines; their legacy, the fruitless search for a legacy,'' Bush said.