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Two demonstrators
interrupted a Bush fund-raiser to shout, “Don’t kill an innocent man!”
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AFTER ROLLING out his education proposals at a local college, Bush
refused to take a reporter’s question about the case of Gary Graham, a
Texas convict scheduled for lethal injection on Thursday. And Bush, who
had been expected to hold a news conference, avoided giving reporters
another opportunity to raise the subject.
Graham’s supporters argue that he didn’t get a fair trial, and death
penalty protesters greeted Bush’s motorcade as he arrived in Palo Alto
late Monday. Two demonstrators interrupted a fund-raiser to shout, “Don’t
kill an innocent man!”
“I thought a lot of
them were for me,” Bush joked with reporters Tuesday aboard his campaign
plane as he flew to Los Angeles for a fund-raiser. “I’m an
optimist.”
He defended the Texas legal
system, which has executed 131 prisoners since the governor took office 5½
years ago. Despite pressure from death penalty opponents, “I’m gonna stand
on principle,” Bush said.
“I think it’s
important that they know that I’m going to make decisions based on the law
and justice and fairness,” he said.
Because
Graham already received a temporary reprieve from Bush’s predecessor, Bush
has no power to spare his life unless the Texas Board of Pardons and
Paroles recommends a pardon, a reprieve or commutation of his sentence. |
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Anti-death penalty activist
Ingrid Ristroph protests the scheduled execution of Gary Graham in front
of the State Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Monday.
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A new California poll underscored the
challenge Bush faces in chasing the presidential race’s biggest electoral
prize. Despite nine visits here since winning the GOP primary in March,
Bush still lagged 11 points behind Vice President Al Gore in the Field
Poll. The survey of 642 likely voters June 9 through Sunday had a margin
of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Before departing for Los Angeles to raise some $2 million, the
presumptive Republican nominee stuck to his script by appealing to Silicon
Valley voters with a proposal to boost students’ math and science
scores.
“This is America. There’s no reason
for us to be next to last in the world in math. There’s no reason for us
to be last in physics,” Bush said at De Anza College. “We’re the greatest
country in the world; we ought to be first. That ought to be the
goal.” |
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His $2.3 billion education plan would:
Establish a “Math and Science Partnership” fund of $1 billion to
strengthen math and science programs in kindergarten through 12th
grade.
Provide $1 billion to
enhance Pell grants for students who take college-level math and science
classes in high school. Those students would receive $1,000 more than
other Pell grant recipients toward their college education.
Provide $345 million to raise the threshold for student loans
that may be forgiven from $5,000 to $17,500 for those who major in
science, math, technology and engineering and commit to teach in a
disadvantaged school for five years.
In
response, Gore spokesman Doug Hattaway said the Democrat’s broader
education proposal would better help students prepare for technology
careers.
“Al Gore’s proposals for reducing
class size and getting students computers would make a great step forward
in improving their math and science scores,” Hattaway said. |
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Bush argues that the nation is falling behind in preparing students
for careers in the Internet-driven global economy. His campaign said the
percentage of job applicants who lack the reading and math skills to
succeed on the job nearly doubled in the last two years, from 19 percent
to 36 percent.
Last year, the campaign says,
one-tenth of computer science-related jobs were vacant.
© 2000 Associated Press.
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten or redistributed.
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Hold the politics
in weapons lab flap
