Weld Tuning Up For Possible Run

If Governor William F. Weld '66 decides to run for President in 1996, he will already have one town meeting under his belt.

Addressing more than 100 people during a "brown bag lunch" at the Kennedy School, Weld sounded off his positions on national issues ranging from the balanced budget amendment to free trade and military preparedness.

The governor declined to say whether he will seek the presidency in 1996. He said only that he expects "a pro-choice governor whose last name begins with W," likely Governor Pete Wilson (R-Calif.), to be somewhere on the ticket.

"My plan is still to serve out my term," Weld said.

But Weld said he can handle a presidential campaign's fundraising pressures, the burden Jack Kemp cited in foregoing a run at the nation's highest office.

"I rather enjoy the fundraising part of politics," Governor Weld said.

Weld said he prefers the idea of candidates raising their own funds to the government providing funds to all candidates.

"In terms of going to a completely public system of funding, I'm not there for that," Weld said. "I think there's something to be said for getting candidates to go out and hone their message."

And Weld said he would be willing to serve as Vice-president to Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.), an expected presidential candidate.

"Assuming I don't run, I'd be honored," Weld said.

The two-term governor said the Republican party will succeed by being inclusive rather than exclusive.

"My position is that I want to be a member of the same party as the Christian conservatives," he said. "I just want to go win."

Weld, who picked up more than 70 percent of the votes tp defeat his Democratic challenger, Mark Roosevelt '78, last November, primarily discussed national politics during the one-hour question and answer session.

The governor said he "is violently in favor" of passing a balanced budget amendment.

"If there's one thing I'm certain of, it's that the combination of federal, state and local government has gotten too big," Weld said. "The only way you're going to get the Congress to make the tough choices is to require them to do it by law. The cuts are not politically popular."

With respect to foreign policy, Weld said he favors using U.S. troops in missions where national security issues are at stake but using multinational forces for humanitarian missions.

"The trouble is to make sure you don't fudge the focus between the two types of missions," the governor said.

Just as Governor Christine Todd Whitman (R-N.J.) did last month in her response to President Clinton's State of the Union Address, Weld alluded to the successes of many Republican governors, including Whitman, Wilson, John Engler (R-Mich.) and Tommy Thompson (R-Wis.).

But Weld chose not to respond to a question connecting Wilson to a plan to end affirmative action in California.

"Particularly given that it's Pete Wilson, I'd rather read it before I comment," he said.

Editor's note: This story should have run on the front page of yesterday's edition but did not due to a production error. The story is reprinted above in its entirety.