The Burlington Free Press from Burlington, Vermont • Page 3

3A The Burlington Free Press Tuesday, September 3, 2002 GOP: 3 rivals run to oppose Sanders over lunch a1; a downtown restaurant. "Nearly one-third of our land in the state is owned by the government. "We've forgotten to balance the needs of the environment with the needs of people," she said. She describes Vermont's watershed planning as "the most oppressive piece of land use control I've ever seen," and condemns most anti-pollution regulation as based on "junk science." One solution for Vermont's energy needs, she said, is small nuclear power generators in the state's communities to provide electricity and steam for co-generation. Kerin, a Barre native, worked 20 years as a civil engineer, then got a law degree but didn't pass the state bar exam.

She's now retired in South Royalton and co-host of a weekly cable access show, the "Unreported News Network." This is Kerin's second try for a U.S. House seat but she is again running a sporadic campaign, declining to seek donations or spend money. Her campaign has consisted mostly of appearing at parades and other public or GOP events. Her outspoken views for property rights, gun ownership, a strong military the United States "absolutely" must remove Saddam Hussein, she has said have appeal to some blocs of Republican voters. But several GOP activists said Kerin has a personal disadvantage: She used to be Charles, a man.

"Philosophically I agree with the person," said Ken Davis, president of the prop- Continued from Page 1A paigning than Meub and Parke. She was the party's nominee in 2000 but won only 18 percent of the vote against Sanders. All three candidates believe the winner of their race has a chance to unseat Sanders. Sanders combative style and socialist politics, they say, aren't as appealing as the nation fights terrorism and copes with economic recession. First time out Greg Parke says he learned his lesson at a campaign school for conservative candidates in Washington: The key to victory is "message, message, message." As he worked the crowd at the Champlain Valley Fair, his message rolled out like a mantra.

"I served 22 years in the Air 22 years in the Air 22 years in the Air Force," he told fairgoer after fairgoer. "We need a credible voice in Washington on military issues." In each encounter, Parke quickly delivered a second message. "Vermont is hemorrhaging jobs," he repeated, as often as fairgoers would listen. "Congressman Sanders voted 100 percent of the time against small business." Parke grew up in Vermont and New Hampshire, then rose to lieutenant colonel in the Air Force. He frequently mentions the four years he spent in the Middle East and his knowledge, now rusty, of Arabic.

He urges more spending on the armed forces and on military intelligence. He's also pledged never to vote for a tax increase; called for partial privatization of Social Security; and proposed the elimination of the income tax on the earnings of low-income elderly people. Karen Kerin AGE: 58 HOME: South Royalton EDUCATION: University of Vermont, 1971; Vermont Law School, 1997 FAMILY: Four sons, one daughter JOB: Retired engineer POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Chairman, Republican town committee; candidate for U.S. House, 2000 Bill Meub Age: 55 HOME: Rutland EDUCATION: Lehigh University, 1968; Vermont Law School, 1978 FAMILY: Married; one son from previous marriage JOB: Lawyer POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Three terms, Rutland School Board; candidate for governor, 2000 Gregory Parke AGE: 48 HOME: Rutland EDUCATION: University of New Hampshire, 1977 FAMILY: Married, two children JOB: Jet pilot POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Rutland County coordinator, McCain presidential campaign, 2000 erty-rights group P.O.S.T."But the person herself that's tough. "I don't hold the sex change against her," he said, but he does believe her unusual identity makes her less electable, echoing a frequently expressed view.

Kerin disagrees, saying her sexual identity shouldn't influence voters. "Many fiscal conservatives recognize me as a person of integrity and welcome the greater diversity of Republi-cans," she said. Contact Candace Page at 660-1865 or at cpagebfp.burlingtonfreepres- How Do Singles By being in Moot? His financial supporters include well-known Chittenden County businessmen like software executive Richard Tarrant, auto dealer Jack DeBrul and insuranceman Luther Hackett. Meub lacks Parke's visceral appeal to the party's conservatives. He is pro-choice and hasn't made traditional conservative issues smaller government, gun rights, tax cuts major talking points of his campaign.

"Bill is very much geared to practical problem-solving as opposed to histrionics and hysterics," said Burlington lawyer Christopher Roy, a Meub supporter. Meub talks most often about traditional business issues, including the importance of free trade and creating jobs. Unlike the other candidates, he has produced a steady stream of releases and position papers on issues in the news. He also hammers away at the importance of replacing Sanders, whom he characterizes as ineffective and unrepresentative of mainstream opinion in Vermont. "I am the person with the best chance to defeat Bernie Sanders," he said in his final appeal during the only televised debate of the primary campaign.

Only he, he told viewers, has the money and backing to beat the popular incumbent. "Vermont needs a voice that is listened to, not just heard," he said. Kerin's run Karen Kerin took a bite of sandwich and returned to her favorite topic: The government's erosion of private property rights. "Statewide, our tax base is declining because of federal land purchases," she insisted countries. Zimbabwe faces widespread starvation as a result of the agricultural crisis.

U.S. negotiators this weekend managed to insert a "good governance" clause in the draft proposal, protecting property rights and requiring member nations to uphold the rule of law. U.S. officials said they insisted on the language because of the situation in Zimbabwe, where Mugabe has moved to force nearly 3,000 of the country's 4,500 white farmers off their land to redistribute it to landless blacks. Mugabe and other heads of state from poor countries, especially in Africa, say wealthy countries have ignored the impact of colonialism, Cold War policies and the inequities of the global trading ar-rangements that have emerged over the past Coming Sunday The three Republican candidates for the U.S.

House seat answered questions from the Free Press on nine top issues they might face if elected. Learn their answers in a voters' guide to the issues on Sunday. floor, Bill Meub heard words that were music to his ears. "Meub? Oh yeah, I heard of you," said a machine operator at Hazelett Strip-Casting in Colchester. Two years ago, Meub was the newcomer, the relative unknown challenging a woman who was a heroine to many Republicans.

He took 41 percent of the vote, a total some Republican leaders blamed on crossover by Democratic voters. This time, Meub began the primary campaign as the man to beat, with a lengthy list of prominent backers and a full-time campaign staff. By late August, he had raised about $100,000 and owed another $60,000 to himself and a Washington campaign consultant. "We think this is going to be a very close election in November," he urged a sympathetic engineer at Hazelett. Meub moved to Vermont in the 1970s to farm, got a law degree, then joined a practice in Rutland, where he served three terms on the city school board.

In a blue pinstriped suit and tasseled loafers, he looks like the lawyer he is. At Hazelett, he shook hands with the factory workers, but lingered to chat about sailing with the company's managers. people but own 70 percent of its arable farmland. To effectively combat poverty in any developing country, Mugabe said, "the land comes first, before all else." Mugabe, 78, has repeatedly characterized his polarizing land reform policies as an effort to address a lingering colonial imbalance. His remarks here Monday underscored the tensions between wealthy countries, predominantly in the Northern Hemisphere, and the mostly poor countries from the south.

Officials from the United States, Britain and other wealthy nations have widely criticized Mugabe's land seizures, and a violent political campaign that culminated in his disputed reelection in March, as examples of the corruption and mismanagement that undermine foreign aid and development in poor Parke is a stocky man with some of a military officer's stiffness and clearly has been feeling his way in this first run for office. He was occasionally flustered as he answered questions on a radio talk show in mid-August, stumbling over his words or leaving a lengthy pause before responding. He often asks reporters to critique his campaign performance. Parke didn't begin campaigning full-time until Aug. 22, when he took a vacation from his job flying jets for corporate executives.

He's-raised about $45,000, enough to hire a small campaign staff and pay for two weeks of preelection television advertising, most of it on cable. When he does connect with Republican voters, Parke doesn't mince words. "Mr. Sanders is killing our military," he began one recent press release. "Mr.

Sanders has been indirectly doing favors for the likes of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden by acting as an agitator against our military." Parke's clear stands and blunt language have elicited an enthusiastic response in some quarters. "Greg gave us strong, credible answers on pro-life issues. He was 100 percent with us," said Michele Morin of the Vermont Right to Life Political Committee. "Bill Meub was vague. He wouldn't answer yes or no and his answers didn't really tell us how he would vote." The right-to-life endorsement was an important one for Parke.

As a brand-new politician without a big advertising budget, he needs the kind of name recognition Right-to-Life can give him among its members. Trying again Over the din on the factory egates did agree to a plan to reduce by half, within 13 years, the estimated 2 billion people worldwide who do not have access to adequate sanitation. More than 100 presidents, prime ministers and members of royalty are scheduled to attend the summit, with more than half arriving over the weekend for the final sessions. Secretary of State Colin Powell will be the senior U.S. official participating.

Among those addressing heads of state Monday was Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, who defended his government's seizure of farms owned by whites and blamed Zimbabwe's problems rich countries. "Ours is an agrarian economy," said Mugabe, noting that Zimbabwe's whites account for less than 1 percent of the country's 13 million I ft ft raiwsTra mm SUMMIT: Energy plan supported "Had complete success I selling my refrigerator!" Kristen from Milton it Li I the same place as other singles. iTAg For 15 years, we have helped single people make their dreams come true. There has never been a better time for us to introduce you. See for yourself.

Call us. We may know someone special waiting to know you. (802)-872-8500 i only s2 Continued from Page 1A most of the agreements included in the draft document, the provision sets no specific targets or timetables for compliance. The conference's focus on methods for implementing existing and new agreements without establishing defined schedules was supported by Bush administration delegates, who contend that targets are meaningless without charting a course for governments, particularly in the developing world, to carry out the proposals. "It's true that targets for the sake of targets has never been our objective," said John Turner, an assistant U.S.

secretary of state attending the conference. "Implementation was our real focus." With two days remaining, negotiators agreed on a number of plans including limiting dangerous industrial emissions, protecting fisheries and reducing state agricultural subsidies to farmers in wealthy countries. Delegates from poorer countries and nongovernmental organizations accused the United States of watering down the agreements by refusing to agree to hard targets or timelines. "It's a tragedy for poor countries," said Alex Renton, a spokesman for the relief organization Oxfam. "They have been given nothing." Turner said, "There are some real accomplishments in that document." The U.S.

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