16 - Gov. George W. Bush sharply attacked Vice President Al Gore's positions on tax cuts, Social Security, Medicare and education today, casting them as triumphs of federal control over individual choice.
Every big idea means bigger government.
The speech was by far Mr. Bush's most comprehensive, specific and strongly worded criticism of his Democratic opponent's policies, signaling his campaign's heightened desire to challenge Mr. Gore on issues and fashioning Mr. Bush as the real populist in the presidential race. Not the taxpayers, but the tax collectors. Not the senior citizens, but the H.M.O. overseers. If only he would trust them. The remarks provoked a swift and extraordinarily detailed response from Mr. Gore's aides, who issued a nearly 3,500-word written rebuttal and put many of Mr. Bush's proposals under their own microscope.