Interview with Marjorie Clapprood of WRKO Radio, Boston, Massachusetts

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Oct 24, 1994

October 19, 1994

The President. Good morning, Marjorie.

Ms. Clapprood. How are you?

The President. Great. It's a beautiful day down here.

Ms. Clapprood. I've got to tell you something, sir. I have been waiting a long time on getting you on this program.

The President. Well, it's high time.

Ms. Clapprood. It is high time. I even went down for the big old Clinton watch when you were over on the Vineyard this summer, and I'm sorry I missed you. But we sort of feel like you've made Massachusetts your second home, so we're delighted you're coming on back.

The President. I'm glad to be back; looking forward to coming up there tomorrow.

Education

Ms. Clapprood. So let's talk about a couple of things. First of all, you need to know that all the kids over at Framingham High are looking forward to your coming down with Senator Kennedy. And let's talk about this education bill. Even Jack Anderson is calling you the education President.

The President. Well, we've worked very hard on education, and Senator Kennedy has had a lot to do with it. A lot of our education initiatives have not attracted a great deal of public notice, maybe because we've been successful in getting bipartisan support for them, for most of them, all but the college loan program. The program to provide middle class college loans at lower interest rates had no Republican support because we took on some organized interest groups. But all the others did. And it's a real tribute to Ted Kennedy because he got the expansion of Head Start in; he got the national service program in.

And this education act we're signing in Boston tomorrow, or in Framingham, has an incredible amount of good things in it. It's a dramatic reform in terms of putting more responsibility back on local school districts, giving them freedom from Federal rules and regulations but giving them very high standards to shoot for. It's a really--it's a very modern, exciting, and I think, effective piece of education legislation. I'm proud to be signing it.

Senator Kennedy

Ms. Clapprood. Well, you know, Mr. President, Senator Kennedy is not only delighted to have you here signing that particular bill, but as you know, this is the toughest race the Senator has ever faced in 32 years. And for many of us in Massachusetts, we're surprised to know that nationally he is one of several seats that we're looking at that could be in very serious jeopardy. Your coming out here to help him will be bringing a message to Massachusetts voters that says what? How important is Senator Kennedy and his reelection to the completion of your agenda as you go back to Washington?

The President. He's terribly important to doing it. And he's important for some reasons that people, I think, may not be aware of in Massachusetts. I mean, the rap that his critics are saying is that, "Well, he's been there long enough. He's yesterday's politician." But I can tell you, I've been talking around here the last week, just asking people, and there is a general feeling here that of all the people in the Congress, Ted Kennedy is one of the four or five who are most receptive to new ideas, to trying new things, to breaking out in new directions.

And if you just look at what we've done in education, we have changed the whole national approach to education. It's much more grassroots, local control: Have national standards, have the National Government helping, but give people the freedom at the grassroots level to try new things and to do things that will work. And he's also been instrumental in developing a national apprenticeship program for young people who don't go to college and, as I said, this college loan program. We've had the most impressive set of achievements in the last year and a half in education we've seen in the last 35 years, a lot of cutting-edge, new ideas, and Ted Kennedy has done it.

The other thing he's very good at that I think people don't appreciate is he's the best Democratic legislator at getting Republicans to support what he's doing. He's the best at getting bipartisan support.

Ms. Clapprood. So I've heard, yes.

The President. And I think that if the people of Massachusetts know that, they would be more inclined to reelect him, because he's really a very forward-looking Member of the Congress, and we need him back.

Midterm Elections

Ms. Clapprood. Well, one of the things that the First Lady said when she was in a couple of weeks back--I was happy to be at the dinner that she hosted for the Senator--she went so far as to say that Senator Kennedy's opponent, Mitt Romney, is really just another clone for Phil Gramm and another Senator "no" for you. Are you as worried about that? Do you want to make any predictions on all of these GOP threats that they are going to be taking over the Senate and taking over the Congress this time around?

The President. Well, I don't think they will if we can get the facts out there. I mean, we have made the Government work for ordinary Americans. We've passed things like family leave and the Brady bill and immunizations for all the kids in this country under 2, against ferocious Republican opposition. We've got the economy coming back. We've got more high-wage jobs coming into the economy in 1994 than the previous 5 years combined. Unemployment is down. Employment is up. The deficit is down. If we can get the record out, we should be winning seats, not them.