LAMAR ALEXANDER He's Traversed America on a Campaign to Meet 'Real People'; but the Moderate Tennessean Has Found Few Followers Series: THE '96 CAMPAIGN. Part 6 in a Series on the Republican Presidential Candidates. First of 3 Articles Appearing Today

Christina Nifong, writer of The Christian Science Monitor, The Christian Science Monitor

NINETEEN seventy-eight was the year when Lamar Alexander first discovered the political power of flannel.

The young, ambitious lawyer was running hard for governor of Tennessee and had grown weary of the usual politicos and party fund-raisers. So he ditched old campaign methods, slipped on a red-and-black lumberjack shirt, khakis, and broken-in boots, and hiked 1,000 miles, crisscrossing the state from Memphis to Knoxville.

Mr. Alexander's aim, he said, was to meet "real" people, tell them who he was, and hear their solutions to problems. It worked - spectacularly. After two popular tours in the Tennessee statehouse, Alexander earned a reputation as a rising …

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Publication information: Article title: LAMAR ALEXANDER He's Traversed America on a Campaign to Meet 'Real People'; but the Moderate Tennessean Has Found Few Followers Series: THE '96 CAMPAIGN. Part 6 in a Series on the Republican Presidential Candidates. First of 3 Articles Appearing Today. Contributors: Christina Nifong, writer of The Christian Science Monitor - Author. Newspaper title: The Christian Science Monitor. Publication date: February 1, 1996. Page number: 10. © 2009 The Christian Science Publishing Society. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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