Democrats on the Air, Bush in the Pulpit
In a day dominated by the Super Bowl and a make-or-break television interview by Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, two other Democrats seeking the presidential nomination also took their campaigns to the airwaves as President Bush worshiped and preached in a black Arlington church.</br></br>In an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin defended his proposals to slash the defense budget and to reduce U.S. investments abroad in favor of increased spending at home.</br></br>He proposes cutting $420 billion from the defense budget over 10 years, "investing" $280 billion of that amount in the U.S. economy, and using the other $200 billion to reduce the federal deficit, now estimated at $350 billion. The plan would result in cutting U.S. troop strength by half and would mean closing most U.S. military bases in Europe, according to Harkin.</br></br>With the New Hampshire primary three weeks away, Harkin trails in opinion polls all but former California governor Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown Jr., who yesterday continued his campaign effort on the airwaves with an interview on WCB-TV in Massachusetts.</br></br>On NBC, Harkin was asked if it was a mistake for him to have taken a two-week break from campaigning for a vacation in the Bahamas over Christmas.