Presidential Candidates Debate

President Bill Clinton and former Senator Bob Dole (R-KS) met at the University of San Diego for the last of two presidential debates prior to the 1996 presidential election. They responded to questions from an audience of 113 persons from the San Diego area who were still undecided about whom they were going to vote for. The debate focused on a wide range of domestic concerns, including the economy, taxes, Medicare and education. There was only one foreign policy question on the possibility of sending U.S. troops as peacekeepers to the Middle East. Senator Dole made a few ethics charges against the president, but they were not nearly as severe as those he made in a speech the previous day in Coronado, California. The president responded that such personal attacks were not relevant to people who were concerned about their jobs and their children’s education. close