As the most diverse and powerful nation in the world, the United States needs a president who can lead the nation out of its economic woes. A president with integrity who will not lie to the people he represents. A president who will ensure that the American experiment does not fail.

We are convinced that Paul E. Tsongas has the economic battle plan and the moral mettle to lead the United States--which has faltered over the last decade--back to recovery.

Tsongas would start with the basics. The former U.S. senator realizes that a middle-class tax cut will do nothing to increase our competitiveness with foreign powers. It won't create any jobs. And it won't do anything to spur an economic recovery.

Rival Bill Clinton calls Tsongas "cold blooded" because he eschews campaign gimmicks.

Indeed, Tsongas knew he was opening himself up for criticism when he offered the truth. But if we are going to boldly address our problems, we need straight answers--not political symbols--as solutions.

And he has done that throughout his career. When he was in U.S. Senate, Tsongas stood up to bipartisan opposition and voted to bail out the Chrysler Corporation--an effort that saved 250,000 jobs.

Tsongas is a determined fighter. An underdog, he came out of nowhere to win seats on the Middlesex County Council, in Congress in 1974 and in the U.S. Senate in 1978.

And less than two months ago, he was still the favorite target of jokes in the public eye. Now he has victories in three primaries and the Washington caucus under his belt. All this with the backdrop of his remarkable battle--and defeat--of cancer a few years ago.

This guy has never lost an election, and he has never waged a dirty campaign. His trustworthiness is second to none in the field of candidates.

But Bill Clinton's track record is far from perfect. The allegations against his character in recent months are many, and it's likely that there are more skeletons lurking in the closet.

Furthermore, Clinton has themes and slogans, but no message. Clinton's redistribution of wealth does nothing for the poor, creates no jobs and does not improve our ability to compete--nor does it reduce the deficit. It's an election year trick. And we are tired of tricks.

We are the world's greatest debtor, 36 million Americans have no medical insurance, and we are losing our competitive edge in the world economy. Worst of all, we have a military-dependent economy.

Tsongas admits there is no painless way to make a transition to his new plan for America. The decision to downsize our arsenal will cost many jobs and job retraining expenditures. The reduction of our debt will take fiscal discipline and commitment. Again, Tsongas economic plan--developed with famous MIT economist Lester Thurow--is clear.

It calls for a capital gains tax cut for stocks with cuts deepening the longer they are held. This wisely encourages long-term investment.

It is important to distinguish this from Bush's plan to cut taxes for real estate development, which is worse than useless. Buildings with no businesses will not help the unemployed and any construction jobs created will be temporary.