June 30, 1999
Senator Orrin Hatch will officially enter the race for President tomorrow night during an interview on CNN's Larry King Live. But Hatch has obviously been running for at least the last two weeks. Charles Sherrill reports from our Washington bureau on how Hatch and others assess the impact he's having.
For the umpteenth time, today Hatch said he's in:
Hatch says, "We're definitely setting up an exploratory committee and we're going to do this."
He wants it understood he'll still do his day job while campaigning on weekends in Iowa and New Hampshire.
"Plus, I'm going to come home too, as much as I can. But we're going to go to both and we're going to do the very best we can. And let the chips fall where they may. And hopefully we'll be a credit in this race to everybody," he says.
George W. Bush announced today that he has already raised $35-million...more than all of his rivals combined. But Hatch has an advantage that guarantees he'll raise money, according to Utah native and Washington lobbyist Tom Korologos.
"I half kiddingly said a year ago when the campaign started, they said who are you for for president? and I said anybody that still votes in congress," Korologos says.
Hatch not only votes but holds powerful committee assignments in the Senate. "That has an automatic ring to it for the K Street characters," Korologos says.
The lobbyists who hand out campaign contributions. And Bush, despite money and endorsements, faces a problem in the early primaries common to all republicans-- governors.
He also thinks Hatch is helped by another equalizer. "This election is going to be based on anybody but Clinton. By that I mean the Clinton Syndrome has soured people so much that if you're 180 opposite of what he was, you've got a shot at this."
Since the second quarter reporting period for campaign contributions ends today, it's probably no accident that Hatch officially enters the race tomorrow. That gives him a chance to try to raise a respectable amount before filing his first report.
Hatch promises to take the high road in his campaign, building himself up without tearing others down.
