Bill Clinton: “First of all, Senator Dole, let's set the record straight. I was able, for 2 years when I was a very young boy, to go to…”

“First of all, Senator Dole, let's set the record straight. I was able, for 2 years when I was a very young boy, to go to a Catholic school, but I basically went to public schools all my life. And I've worked hard for a long time to make them better. Ninety percent of our kids are there. It's amazing to me--you are all for having more responsibility at the local level for everything except schools, where we don't have very much money at the Federal level to spend on education. We ought to spend it helping the 90 percent of the kids that we can help. If a local school district in Cleveland or anyplace else wants to have a private school choice plan like Milwaukee did, let them have at it. I might say, the results are highly ambiguous. But I want to get out there and give a better education opportunity to all of our children. And that's why I vetoed the budget that you passed with $30 billion in education cuts. It was wrong, and my plan for the future is better. Political Philosophy Mr. Lehrer. Mr. President. Senator Dole, at the Republican Convention you said the following, and I quote: ``It is demeaning to the Nation that within the Clinton administration, a corps of the elite who never grew up, never did anything real, never sacrificed, never suffered, and never learned should have the power to fund with your earnings their dubious and self- serving schemes.'' End quote. Whom, precisely, and what, precisely, did you have in mind? Senator Dole. I had precisely in mind a lot of the people that were in the White House and other agencies who have never been--had any experience, who came to Washington without any experience. They're all very liberal, of course, or they wouldn't be in the administration. And their idea was that they knew what was best for the American people. Now, I feel very strongly about a lot of things. I feel strongly about education. I want to help young people have an education, just as I had an education after World War II with the GI bill of rights. And we've had millions of young men and women in subsequent wars change the face of the Nation because the Government helped with their education. Now, the reason they don't want to have--you know, the reason the President can't support this is pretty obvious. It's not taking anything away from schools. It's new money. It's not going to be taken away from anybody else except it will downsize the Department of Education. But this is a very liberal administration. This is the administration that gave you the big tax cut. This is the administration that tried to take over health care and impose a governmental system. This is the administration that fought regulatory reform and that's putting a lot of small-business men and small-business women out of business. This is the administration that fought the balanced budget amendment and vetoed a balanced budget and vetoed welfare reform twice. And the list goes on and on and on. That's what I had in mind. I want people in my administration and will have people in my administration who understand America. There won't be 10 millionaires and 14 lawyers in the Cabinet. They'll be people with experience and people who understand America and people who know the hard knocks in life.”