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By Carey Phillips
and Lynn Hotaling
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Erskine Bowles visited Jackson
County Tuesday (Jan. 6) as part of a two-day campaign swing through
Western North Carolina.
Among his stops were the Jackson County Justice Center and the
Coffee Shop, where he ate Salisbury steak and coconut meringue
pie.
This is the second Senate bid for Bowles, White House chief of
staff under President Clinton and former head of the Small Business
Administration. Bowles lost to Republican Elizabeth Dole two years
ago, but he carried Jackson County.
Democratic Senate hopeful Erskine Bowles, left, got reacquainted
with "Uncle" Jimmy Childress during a Tuesday (Jan. 6) campaign
swing through Sylva. Bowles and Childress first met more than
30 years ago when Childress led local efforts to put Bowles' father,
the late Skipper Bowles, in the N.C. governor's mansion. Bowles,
who lost to Elizabeth Dole in 2002, is making a second bid for
the U.S. Senate and is the only announced Democratic candidate
for the seat being vacated by John Edwards. - Herald photo
by Rose Hooper
Bowles faced a three-way primary battle for his
party's 2002 nomination and trailed Dole in the polls by 42 points.
This year, he is the only announced Democratic candidate and said
he owns a double-digit lead over Congressman Richard Burr, the
lone announced Republican candidate.
"I got more votes than John Edwards got when he won,"
Bowles said of the man he seeks to replace. "Turnout is such
an important part of the game."
In the wake of massive job losses in North Carolina during the
past two years Bowles said he feels voters are ready to elect
a Democrat from the "sensible center."
A consensus builder who looks for common-sense solutions, Bowles
said President Clinton brought him on board to balance the budget
and that he spent countless hours with congressional leaders from
both parties looking for the middle ground.
When asked whether his ties to the Clinton administration would
be a plus or minus, Bowles said he was proud of what he accomplished
as part of Clinton's team.
"I'm proud of the role I played. We created 22 million jobs,"
Bowles said.
The candidate then re-directed the subject to himself and what
he hopes to accomplish for the Tar Heel State.
"I have to stand on my own two feet - I'm running as Erskine
Bowles," he said. "I'm spending my time focused on this
race and on North Carolina. It's been a long time since we had
a senator who focused on North Carolina.
"In most parts of the state, what I hear is jobs, jobs, jobs,"
Bowles said. "In Western North Carolina, much of what I've
heard has been about protecting the environment. The environment
is very important to the economy here."
Bowles said he gets the feeling that voters think officials in
Washington aren't listening to their needs and concerns.
"The fellow I'm running against votes with the administration
95 percent of the time," Bowles said. "We need someone
who'll go up there and do what's right for this state. I think
people want somebody who will go to Washington and be strong and
independent and not just a rubber stamp."
Education is another issue Bowles has encountered on the campaign
trail. While he applauds the accountability and standards in federal
legislation termed "No Child Left Behind," he said the
act needs more flexibility.
His biggest concern regarding NCLB is that it's an $18 billion
program that's under- funded by $6 billion, leaving state and
local governments to make up the difference.
Turning to the war in Iraq, he said that if he had been in the
Senate last year he would have voted for the resolution authorizing
force and for President Bush's request for $87 million last year.
However, he said the United States should only have entered the
war with broad-based international support.
"What I think the Bush Administration has done wrong is they
had a plan for winning the war, but they didn't have a plan for
winning the peace," Bowles said, noting that Secretary of
State Colin Powell once said a country should never enter into
war without having an exit plan.
Bowles said his plan for Iraq centers around working with allies
to have the international community become more involved, reconstituting
the Iraq Army in order to bring U.S. soldiers home and rebuilding
the country "so we can leave as liberators and not as occupiers."
Problems in the Middle East have prompted him to champion energy
independence for America. Bowles advocates the use of power sources
such as solar, wind, ethanol and fuel cells, and said the U.S.
needs to invest in technology that will result in less energy
consumption and greater conservation.
If Bowles is elected, he will be bucking a 36-year-old trend.
Not since Sam Erwin in 1968 has North Carolina sent a Democrat
to the Senate during a presidential election year.
"I plan to win," Bowles said. "I've tried the other
way, and it's not much fun."
The identity of the Democratic presidential nominee will have
some impact on the Senate race, Bowles said, noting that he speaks
from experience because his father, the late Skipper Bowles, was
the first Democrat to lose a gubernatorial race in North Carolina
in the 20th century. The elder Bowles was defeated by Jim Holshouser
in 1972.
"My father ran with George McGovern," Bowles said. "I
remember 1972 well."
Republican Richard Nixon defeated Democrat McGovern in 49 states,
and many Democrats running for other offices - especially in the
South - also lost.
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