SUNDAY NEWS - OCTOBER 6, 1996 - LANCASTER, PA.

Howard Phillips speaks at a breakfast rally Saturday.

THEY KNOW HE'S RIGHT
Presidential candidate Howard Phillips preaches an ultra- conservative platform at rally here.
By Elizabeth Cummings - Sunday News Staff Writer

The presidential candidate who visited Lancaster Saturday isn'tworried about beating Bill Clinton or Bob Dole.

He's worried about getting 1 percent of the vote, instead ofzero percent.

In a political rally with overtones of a prayer meeting, HowardPhillips, of the U.S. Taxpayers Party, told an audience of about50 that "in politics, your vote is the currency of your virtue."

After the prosperous-looking crowd dug into plates of ham andeggs in the basement of the Willow Valley Restaurant, Phillipsdelineated the planks of his far-right platform: pro-life;privatizing Social Security; and withdrawing support for the "NewWorld Order," including the United Nations.

The Taxpayers Party calls itself the only national party fullycommitted to ending legalized abortion and aims to reduce thefederal budget by limiting what the government is constitutionallyallowed to do. Among the programs Phillips pledged to cut, alongwith federal income taxes: the Department of Education, theInternal Revenue Service, loans for small businesses, AIDSeducation and welfare.

In Pennsylvania, Phillips is running in the ConstitutionalParty, which includes such conservative activists as Peg Luksik3,who ran for governor. Luksik greeted people as they walked intothe room.

Kathy and Chris Sutherland, from Quarryville, came to hearPhillips on the urging of their pastor, David Slautterback, ofthe Solanco Bible Church.

Kathy Sutherland, who home-schools her two younger children,ages 17 and 14, said that she'd recently taught her childrensome of the "founding papers" of the country - the FederalistPapers, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution.

She's not comfortable with the way the government hasexpanded its powers beyond what she believes is outlined there.So when Phillips, who advocates a limited reading of the rightsoutlined in the Constitution, touched on those ideas, she likedwhat he had to say.

"You know, those men who signed the Declaration really laidit all on the line," she said. "I don't think we have any menon either side willing to make that sacrifice now."

Across the table, a man from Lancaster County tuned into herconversation when he heard Sutherland talk about home schooling.

"Do you know they deleted the part of Washington's farewelladdress that has to do with the importance of religion?" he said."They're not teaching the whole thing in the public schoolsanymore."

"Really?" said Sutherland.

The man, who wouldn't give his name, saying that his churchdoesn't approve of political activism, applauded Phillips' pro-life stance and nodded his head vigorously when Phillips saidthe government shouldn't fund AIDS education programs, which arereally "homosexual recruitment organizations."

He pulled out his checkbook at the end of the speech and saidhe definitely planned to vote for Phillips.

The Sutherlands weren't so sure. Chris Sutherland, a formerprofessor at West Chester University, now a health careconsultant, said he planned to read more of Phillips' writingsbefore he made up his mind.

The Sutherlands' oldest son, 19, wants his parents to votefor Harry Browne, the Libertarian candidate. They don't plan todo that, or vote for Ross Perot, the Reform Party candidate. Butthen again, they said, voting for Bob Dole or Bill Clinton is outof the question.

"We need a third party," said Kathy Sutherland.

Contributed by Jesse C. Wagner II