June 23, 1999
"Yeah, I'm planning on running and I'm hoping that my folks in Utah'll support me."
Senator Orrin Hatch says he's raising money and building an organization to campaign for President in the 2000 elections.
He says it's a work in progress but the goal is clear.
Charles Sherrill reports from our Washington Bureau.
Senator Hatch says he's still going to make an OFFICIAL announcement sometime soon but he now confirms for the record what he's been saying in private... he will run for president.
Hatch concedes
that Texas Governor George Bush is the odds on favorite to win.
"But if something happens that he stumbles then who's there?" he asks.
How can Hatch hope to raise money running as a backup to Bush?
"Well, if I didn't think I was the best candidate, I don't think I'd run at all," he says.
Still, Hatch says
Bush would be a fine President.
"But you know, I worry about it. I worry about the experience factor. I worry about foreign policy matters. I worry about a lot of things. But he's very good," Hatch admits.
But the senator says he's better.
"People know that I"m a substantial, hard working, decent guy. And that I have a lot of experience here in Washington and all over the country, and, frankly, all the way around the world."
I asked Hatch why he's waited so long to kick off his campaign.
He answered, "We're fast at work doing that. We're seeing about getting people on the ground in New Hampshire and Iowa. Of course, I want to make sure that my folks in Utah are happy with what I'm doing."
Most political pundits think he's waited way too long.
Stuart Rothenberg says, "It's as if he's involved in a mile race and everybody else has a half mile advantage over him."
What would it take now for Hatch to win?
Mr. Rothenberg says, "There's only one thing that could help him in this presidential bid, and that's divine intervention. He really needs a miracle. It can happen. It has happened in politics. But nobody in their right mind would bet on it."
