Election debate today will be crucial

Press, 22 October 1984, Page 6

Election debate today will be crucial

NZPA-Reuter Washington The Democratic challenger, Walter Mondale and the President, Mr Ronald Reagan will clash over foreign policy and defence in front of 80 million voters today in their second television debate of the presidential campaign. Mr Mondale is trailing in seven separate polls by margins of from nine to 25 points. Today’s debate in Kansas City, Missouri will be his last main opportunity to derail Mr Reagan 16 days before the election. Mr Mondale hopes to repeat his victory in the first debate on domestic issues two weeks ago. His poise and humour favourably impressed viewers. Mr Reagan was sometimes hesitant and uncertain. The candidates will do battle over foreign policy after a new “Washington Post”-A.B.C. News poll that

showed about 30 per cent of all' potential voters were “soft” on their choice of a President and that this debate would help them decide. Today’s 90-minute ques-tion-and-answer format will give the 73-year-old Mr Reagan an opportunity to try to demonstrate his stamina and defuse age as a campaign issue. In an aggressive prelude to the debate, Mr Reagan accused Mr Mondale yesterday of devoting his political career to opposing United States military strength and exposing America to “unnecessary risks.” Mr Reagan said in a regular weekly radio broadcast that Mr Mondale “has seemed possessed with one simple but very wrong idea — American strength is a threat to our world peace — and he has devoted a political career to opposing our

strength and exposing us to dangerous unnecessary risks.”

Mr Reagan said that as a senator Mr Mondale “voted time and again against American strength, against technological advances meant to better protect our security.” “He voted against the cruise missile, the Bl bomber, the Trident submarine and against salary increases for the military.” “Yes, he did vote for certain things — for cutting troops in Europe, for cutting our military manpower and for cutting our defence budgets.”

Mr Reagan chided Mr Mondale for describing the Carter-Mondale Administration years as a period of relaxed tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. “Well, it’s true, they relaxed. But the Soviets didn’t,” he said.