LAMAR ALEXANDER ANNOUNCES BID TO MATCH FEATURE BC BOOK, 1995-02-28 (photo)

MATCHER FOR BC BOOK - 28FEB95 - Lamar Alexander, former Tennessee Governor, is shown when he announced his bid February 28, 1995 to be the GOP candidate for the 1996 U.S. presidential election, outside the Blount County Courthouse in his hometown of Maryville, Tennessee. Alexander launched his presidential bid wearing a red-and-black plaid shirt, and he kept wearing it for much of his campaign. "Big mistake," he now says. "The shirt overshadowed my message and even today people remember the shirt more than my message," he told Reuters in an interview. Now, partly in an attempt to retire the shirt before he launches his next presidential run for 2000, Alexander has encapsulated some 370 political hints and tenets in "Lamar Alexander's Little Plaid Book" -- an amusing look at life on the political trail. FEATURE