    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book II)]
    [November 2, 1994]
    [Pages 1952-1954]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Interview With Diane Stern of WBZ Radio, Boston, Massachusetts
    November 2, 1994

        Ms. Stern. The President joins me live on WBZ News Radio. And
    welcome, Mr. President. If we could get right to the questions, we'd
    appreciate it.
        The President. Great. It's nice to hear your voice.

    White House Attack

        Ms. Stern. The man who allegedly shot at the White House was in
    court today, as you know. He may soon be indicted on charges that he
    tried to kill you. I'd like to know, how do you talk to your daughter
    about that?
        The President. Well, I think my daughter is well aware of the
    requirements of the office and that a lot of it involves the Secret
    Service. But I have to tell you, I think they do a good job. I was not
    in any danger, and I think this matter is being handled in the
    appropriate way.

    Moral Guidance for Youth

        Ms. Stern. We're talking live to President Clinton on WBZ News Radio
    1030. Mr. President, as a parent, I'm concerned about what seems to be a
    moral decline in this country. Do you share those concerns?
        The President. Of course I do. I'm especially concerned that so many
    of our young children are being raised, in effect, in a vacuum where
    they're so vulnerable to gangs and guns and violence and drugs and where
    they don't have enough people to look up to and enough people to follow.
    And they're not being taught right from wrong on a daily basis. I think
    we have to work on all those things.
        One of the things that I've tried hard to do as President is to
    emphasize the importance of parents and churches and community groups
    taking responsibility for these children again. And one of the things
    that I liked about our crime bill was that we enabled church groups and
    others to apply for assistance to reach out to more of these young
    people. You know, every child is going to have somebody that he or she
    looks up to. It needs to be the right person; it needs to be somebody
    who has a sustained and caring relationship with the child over a long
    period of time. It ought to be the parents, but if it can't be, it has
    to be someone else. That's the only way to turn this around.

    Midterm Elections

        Ms. Stern. Mr. President, if we could get on to the campaign trail,
    campaign '94, as you know, you're not welcomed by some Democrats
    campaigning for election this year. Personally, how does that make you
    feel?
        The President. Well, most elections are decided on the merits within
    each State. You know, when I was a Governor, I never had the President
    come and campaign for me, even when the President was a member of my own
    party and was popular, because I thought that the voters were
    discriminating about that. But I do think there are some national
    elements to this election. And particularly in a lot of these races for
    Congress and Senate, I'm pleased to go where I've been asked to go--I've
    been asked to go more places than I can--to try to say what the stakes
    are in this election. And they are national.
        You know, the fact is that in the last 21 months, while we haven't
    solved all the problems in the country and while a lot of ordinary
    Americans still have difficulties, the country is in better shape than
    it was. We've got more jobs. The deficit is coming down. We're doing
    more for families and children. And educational opportunities have been
    increased. The tax system is fair. The nuclear threat is less. There's
    more trade in the world. There's more peace, more democracy in the
    world. We're moving in the right direction at home and abroad. And the
    voters need to go forward, not back to the easy promises of the
    eighties.
        You know, I knew when I took this job, if I really tried to change
    things I'd have to shake some things up; I wouldn't always be popular.

    [[Page 1953]]

    I wouldn't always be popular everywhere in the country and certainly not
    when people didn't know what had been done. So my job is simply to go
    out in this last week and tell people what's been done, what the stakes
    are, what the challenges are ahead and let them make up their own minds.

        Ms. Stern. President Clinton--we're talking live with the President
    on WBZ News Radio--what is your take on last week's endorsement of Mario
    Cuomo by New York GOP Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and could you see yourself
    ever going out on a limb like that, backing a Republican?

        The President. Well, I think he did it as an act of statesmanship. I
    think that Mayor Giuliani saw himself as an American first, a
    representative of the people of New York, and then a Republican. And he
    thought that Governor Cuomo would be better for the people of New York
    City than the policies advocated by Mr. Pataki and his sponsor, Senator
    D'Amato. I really respect what he did. I think it had to do with what
    was best for ordinary New Yorkers. I think that's the reason that the
    mayor of Los Angeles endorsed a Democratic Senator, Senator Feinstein. I
    think you're seeing a lot of that around the country today as people get
    worried about the extreme nature of a lot of the Republican campaigns
    and how divorced they are from the real concerns of ordinary Americans.
    So obviously I liked it, but I also believe it was an act of
    statesmanship.

        Q. Could you envision yourself ever backing a Republican, especially
    considering the remarks today to Black Entertainment Television calling
    them far rightwingers, extreme?

        The President. I didn't say they all were. I didn't say they all
    were. I said their congressional leadership had advocated principles
    that were extreme rightwing, and they have. Oh sure, under the right
    circumstances, if I were President and we had the equivalent of Oliver
    North running in the Democratic Party against a responsible Republican
    alternative, I believe I would do just what President Reagan and Mrs.
    Reagan have done in Virginia. I certainly do believe that.

    President's Priorities

        Ms. Stern. I know we're running short on time, but Newsweek
    magazine, you may have seen, gathered a focus group of voters who,
    rather than being angry with your administration, say they are
    disappointed. Now, how might you change your agenda the next 2 years,
    based on what you have and have not accomplished so far?

        The President. Well, I'm going to try to do what we haven't done
    yet. I'm going to try to get the Congress to pass welfare reform. I'm
    going to take another run at health care. We've got to find a way to
    protect the health insurance of people; a million more Americans lost it
    last year. I'm going to take another run at campaign finance reform and
    at lobbying reform and at some of the environmental measures that we
    need so badly.

        But the most important thing I've got to do is to figure out a way
    to communicate with the American people better. I mean, all the evidence
    is that the American people basically do not know, for example, that the
    last 2 years our administration was only the third one since World War
    II in which Congress approved more than 80 percent of the measures that
    I recommended, that it included family and medical leave for working
    families and tax credits for working families with children who are just
    above the poverty line and immunization of all children under 2 by 1996
    and an expansion of Head Start and a big expansion of more affordable
    college loans for middle class families; that if they did know these
    things they would have a totally different attitude. So, I really liked
    the Newsweek poll--focus group--because it showed what I think, which is
    that the American people, I think, if they knew what I had done and if
    they knew what we have achieved and if they knew where we were going, I
    think they'd feel better.

        I have to do a better job of finding a way to communicate directly
    with people in an atmosphere which is overwhelmingly dominated by
    controversy, conflict, failure, combative communication, and just talk
    straight to the folks. I've given a lot of thought to it; it's a great
    challenge. But in a democracy, even if you do something, if people don't
    know it, it doesn't quite register until they begin personally to
    benefit.

        Ms. Stern. Mr. President, the campaign trail is beckoning, I'm sure.
    And thank you for joining us on WBZ News Radio here in Boston.
        The President. Thank you. I enjoyed it.
        Ms. Stern. Let's do it again.

    [[Page 1954]]

        The President. Goodbye.

    Note: The interview began at 4:42 p.m. The President spoke by telephone
    from the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, RI.