INDIANAPOLIS - One of the GOP's rising stars broke ranks with the rest of the party Saturday, saying the Republicans should ban ''soft money'' political contributions.
The party should not hand the issue of campaign finance reform to the Democrats, U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., told 1,300 Midwest GOP activists here.
''I say let's take the lead here; we ought to ban soft money,'' said Mr. Thompson, a first-term senator who is chairing the Senate Government Affairs Committee's investigation into alleged campaign finance abuses in the 1996 election cycle.
''Then we ought to challenge our Democratic friends who talk about this issue all the time and see if they are serious enough to come out against workers having their coerced union dues used to support politicians they don't agree with,'' Mr. Thompson said.
The senator's call for a ban on soft money - money given directly to political parties instead of candidates and not subject to federal campaign contribution limits - puts him at odds with the Republican Party and the GOP congressional leadership.
Last month in Cleveland, the Republican National Committee went on record as being opposed to a ban on soft money.
But Saturday, in a luncheon speech to the Midwestern Republican Leadership Conference here, Mr. Thompson said the GOP should be ahead of the Democrats on campaign finance reform.
''I know that many Republicans say that the current system gives us an advantage and that any change will put our incumbents and our control at risk,'' the 54-year-old Tennessean said. ''But I reject the notion that money has been the key to our success.''
Republicans win, Mr. Thompson said, ''on the strength of our ideas and principles and our ability to articulate them. It's when we don't do that that we get in trouble.''
For many of the GOP delegates from 13 Midwestern states who gathered here this weekend, Saturday's luncheon speech was their first up-close look at the Southern politician who could become a presidential candidate.
When Mr. Thompson entered the ballroom at the Westin Hotel here Saturday afternoon, he was mobbed by delegates, many of whom wanted to have their picture taken with him. He was almost like a movie star - which, in fact, he was, up until his election to the Senate.
After first gaining fame in 1973 as the 30-year-old minority counsel for the Senate Watergate Committee, Mr. Thompson went on to a part-time career as a movie actor, appearing in 18 films including In the Line of Fire with Clint Eastwood and The Hunt for Red October.
Mr. Thompson was only one of many potential GOP presidential candidates who showed up in Indianapolis this weekend for what was being billed as the first major event of the battle for the 2000 nomination.
Texas Gov. George W. Bush criticized President Clinton on Saturday for siding with organized labor and derailing a Texas welfare initiative.
In a plan to streamline Texas' welfare system, Mr. Bush wanted the private sector to determine who is eligible for benefits. Unions objected, worried that state workers would be replaced by cheaper labor. The Clinton administration refused to allow the change.
''The president of the United States, the president who had promised freedom and flexibility, said no after he met at the White House with leaders of the AFL-CIO,'' Mr. Bush said.
''It's frustrating that the AFL-CIO is setting welfare waiver policy,'' Mr. Bush told the Republican activists, many of whom considered his address an early test of his presidential mettle.
Touching on Republican campaign cornerstones, Mr. Bush also endorsed a balanced budget amendment, tort reform, tougher laws for juvenile offenders and a smaller Washington bureaucracy. ''Limited government works,'' he said.
Facing re-election in 1998, Mr. Bush, son of the former president, has played down talk about a 2000 presidential bid even though he is a favorite of delegates here.
Many Republicans here say privately that Mr. Thompson's possible future as a presidential contender could have a lot to do with the outcome of his committee's investigation, particularly the allegations that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Clinton administration engaged in illegal fund-raising practices. After holding 11 days of hearings last month, the committee will resume its work in September.
Saturday, Mr. Thompson said it is clear from the investigation so far that there was a ''systematic flow of millions of dollars, much of it from foreign sources, into the DNC and the president's re-election effort.
''The first step towards reform is accountability for the outrageous behavior that happened during the last election,'' Mr. Thompson said. ''We're going to see to it that we have accountability.''
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
BLACKWELL ISN'T BACKING OFF
QUAYLE SOUNDS LIKE A CANDIDATE
