Friday, November 12, 1999
Bauer back home to honor veterans
Presidential candidate vows to continue uphill campaign
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT — Republican presidential contender Gary Bauer made a visit to his hometown Thursday to honor veterans and call for more federal spending on national defense.
Mr. Bauer, 53, a 1964 graduate of Newport High School, also used his day-long visit to film the first television commercial of his campaign. The spot was shot at the Park Avenue home in Newport where Mr. Bauer grew up and where his mother still lives.
“It's a pleasure for me today to be back in my hometown of Newport, Ky., and it's a double pleasure to be here on Veterans Day,” Mr. Bauer said during a Veterans Day ceremony at the Newport City Building.
In a brief speech Mr. Bauer talked about his father, Stanley “Spike” Bauer, who served with the U.S. Marines in the South Pacific during World War II.
“The veteran that I knew the best, and the one that I loved the most, was my father,” Mr. Bauer. “When I was grow ing up he used to tell me unbelievable stories about the things that he saw and the things that he had to do.
“He was a tough guy, but I remember that every time the national anthem played he'd get a tear in his eye,” Mr. Bauer said.
Though he continues to poll in single digits and has less money than front-runner George W. Bush and millionaire Steve Forbes, Mr. Bauer has stayed in the race longer than a number of Republican hopefuls, including Elizabeth Dole and Dan Quayle.
But Mr. Bauer has raised about $10 million compared with the $60 million Mr. Bush has raised and the $65 million Mr. Forbes — heir to a publishing fortune — has already spent.
“I'm obviously an underdog,” Mr. Bauer said. “I'm running against the son of a former president and the son of a tycoon. I'm the son of a janitor, and we're still in the race.
“One of the things I learned in Newport was that if you're in fight and at the end of it you're the last guy standing, that means you won,” he said. “I intend to be the last guy standing when this thing is over.”
Speaking to a group of about 75 people, most of them veterans in VFW and American Legion hats or military uniforms, Mr. Bauer said veterans “have always answered our country's call, time and time again.”
“The men we see here today have been freedom's army.”
Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, Mr. Bauer said Congress needs to spend more money on national defense, including increasing wages for military personnel.
“The mistakes that we've made in this century militarily we appear to be making again,” he said. “We've let our military forces decline to unacceptable levels.”
Mr. Bauer said during Ronald Reagan's administration, where he served as a domestic policy adviser and in the Department of Education, there was more emphasis on the military.
“When I left the Reagan Administration we had a 600-ship Navy; it's down to 325 ships,” he said. “We had 18 Army divisions; it's down to 10 now.
“We've got 15,000 men and women on food stamps in the military because we're paying them too little to lift them above the poverty level. So we need to restore military spending,” Mr. Bauer said.
Mr. Bauer said if elected he would also work to restore veterans' benefits that have been cut in recent years and keep more veterans' hospitals open.
Veteran Rudy Szabo, 57, of Erlanger, said he traveled to Newport Thursday to hear Mr. Bauer's speech and meet the candidate.
“He has good morals and I support him because he supports the military,” said Mr. Szabo, who retired after 24 years in the Navy.
“He believes in God and isn't afraid to say that, and I support his platform. So I intend to vote for him and support him every step of the way,” he said.
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