He wanted so badly to drive a stake through its heart. But the beat goes on.
In the end, Steve Forbes' candidacy was survived by the tax code he despises, leaving the best hopes for its burial in the very halls of power he blamed for creating "this monstrous status quo."Until just weeks ago, plans to upend the tax system were the rage in the GOP presidential race, with five in play at one point. Although Forbes wasn't first with the idea, he made it fashionable and intriguing to far more people than ended up voting for him.
Asked Friday if the flat-tax idea will live without him, Forbes declared: "Absolutely. . . . It's going to be fiercely resisted. It was, but there is a majority of support for it. I think we've moved the issue forward." And he vowed to continue to push his plan, "either making speeches or doing talk shows, working with others."
Forbes, interviewed on NBC's "Today" show, repeated his endorsement of Sen. Bob Dole, saying, "He has something that Mr. Clinton does not have - character. And we agree on far more issues than we disagree on."
As for another presidential bid in 2000, Forbes said, "Four years in politics is like 40 years in a lifetime. So I'm making no predictions."
Dole, his way to the nomination now clear, has no tax plan of his own. But the Senate majority leader pledged Thursday, in his usual general terms, to seek "fundamental tax reform" with a goal of lower and simpler taxes.
"I thought he offered something in the campaign worth pursuing," Dole said of a rival whose ideas he called "snake oil" in the heat of the fight.
His remaining challenger, Pat Buchanan, urged Dole to "stop stalling on the flat-tax idea."
Forbes left the race saying Americans won't be denied a tax system that transfers powers to them from Washington.
"It's not whether it will happen," he insisted. "It's just a matter of when it will happen."
Some say the outlook is bleak.
"The upshot is that Bob Dole doesn't have what it takes to lead a major shift in policy," said Heritage Foundation economist Daniel Mitchell, a flat-tax advocate. "We'll get dribs and drabs."
But House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas, whose flat-tax proposal became a near model for Forbes, wasn't so glum.
"I think the flat tax is in an even stronger position than it was when Steve got in the race. It wasn't Forbes that gave the flat tax its popularity but the other way around," he said.