Subject: Bush's Speeches Moving Closer to the Middle 
Date: Published: 10/11/88 50 lines
Source:  Wall Street Journal.  Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc. 

    Politics and Policy -- Campaign '88:  
    Bush's Speeches Are Moving Closer to the Middle
    In Bid to Broaden Base of Support Among Voters
    ----  
    By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
    Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

    ALBUQUERQUE, N. M. -- The sort of red meat that George Bush
 is dishing out at a rally of the faithful here -- assaults
 against Michael Dukakis's support of criminal furloughs and
 gun control -- have become the daily diet of the vice
 president's campaign.
    But while this menu, mixed with attacks portraying Mr. 
 Dukakis as a big taxer and naive on defense, is the staple
 that delights conservatives and infuriates liberals, Mr. Bush
 lately has been moving subtly but with increasing speed
 toward the political middle.

[82 lines irrelevant to AIDS have been removed. -- sysop]

    On other days, Mr. Bush has said he wants to spend more on
 the Coast Guard, law enforcement and AIDS research.  A plan to
 encourage the use of corn-based fuel would raise the price of
 food.  He also has promised new tax breaks for low- and
 middle-income taxpayers and for parents who save for their
 children's college education.  The list goes on.
    Such pledges lately have been presented by Mr. Bush in a
 moderate tone to match their politics.  He tells the audience
 here in Albuquerque:  "I feel it in my heart, about a gentler,
 kinder nation that recognizes a big part of its strength is
 its kindness, its generosity."
    Even though Mr. Bush headed President Reagan's task force
 on deregulation, many of his campaign proposals would entail
 more government regulation.  Take, for example, his garbage
 program.  Mr. Bush has said his goal is to reduce the nation's
 160 million tons of garbage a year by 25% in his first term.
 That feat would require both tax incentives and stringent
 federal regulations that experts say would cost consumers
 millions of dollars a year.
    ---
    John J. Fialka contributed to this article.

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