NASHVILLE — Former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander formally launched his second presidential bid Tuesday with a pledge to overcome widespread cynicism and restore public faith in government by improving the nation's schools and renewing respect for a scandal-scarred White House.
On a sodden, gray day in his adopted hometown, Alexander spoke of the sun rising on a "new American century" that would "require a moral foundation laid by a president who respects the office and respects those who put him in the office."
"This election will be about the character of the nation and its institutions," Alexander declared at the ceremonial start of a quest for the GOP presidential nomination that, for all intents, began six years ago and never ceased. "This election will be about restoring respect to the presidency."
Standing before a backdrop of furled American flags in a marble-columned chamber of the Tennessee capitol, Alexander, 58, ticked off three priorities that would guide his administration: improving public education, cutting taxes while protecting Social Security, and strengthening national security through establishment of a missile-defense system.
But with the impeachment trial of President Clinton serving as a broader backdrop, Alexander repeatedly returned to the themes of personal honesty and public integrity.
Candidate Pledges to Unify Nation
"I believe that the cynicism and the rancor that swirl about our public institutions today is not a permanent affliction," he said. "Rather, I think it is a temporary condition that can be washed away by a leader who is willing to unite us, rather than divide us."
Having run longer than any other Republican in the 2000 field, Alexander is still striving to find some spark to distinguish his candidacy. He begins with many of the strengths that marked his 1996 run: a talented team of advisors, an active network of supporters in the key states of Iowa and New Hampshire and a credible national fund-raising base.
Moreover, as Alexander pointed out in a pre-announcement interview, "I've been around the track." Clearly trying to deflect criticism that his is a shopworn endeavor, he noted that President Eisenhower "is the last Republican to be elected the first time he ran" for president.
His rivals, he added, "are either untested or less tested."
