Thursday, October 21, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Nation/World
Section A·Page 11
Dole drops out of presidential race
GOP hopeful says Bush's bankroll too much to battle
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Elizabeth Dole abandoned her bid to be America's first woman president, giving up yesterday in the shadow of Republican front-runner George W. Bush's out-sized bankroll.
"The odds are overwhelming," she told tearful supporters. "It would be futtle to continue."
With a near-wistful nod to the historic implications, President Clinton called Dole's departure from the race a loss to the Republican Party and a loss to the country that she couldn't go for
ward because of finances.
The fifth GOP candidate to drop out months before the first primaries;
Dole leaves Bush, Arizona Sen. John McCain and conservative millionaire Steve Forbes in the top tier of the seven remaining Republican contenders.
Allies immediately buzzed about Dole's prospects for second place on any GOP ticket hoping to draw women voters. While Dole said
Dole: Says Bush's money is too much to overcome
emphatically she has not considered the vice presidency, she added, "I'm a long way from the twilight."
Dole's campaign attracted new voters — particularly young and professional women — to the Republican Party. She finished strong in an early political contest — Iowa's non-binding straw poll in August — and displayed a practiced polish on the campaign trail.
But she was unable to translate that into higher poll rankings or increased fund raising. Though second place in many national polls — she hovered around 10 percent — she trailed McCain in New Hampshire and lagged well behind Bush everywhere.
After weeks of rumors spread by rivals that she would quit, Dole turned the talk to truth in a speech tinged with bitterness for the fortunes held by Bush and Forbes.
Her schedule had her racing through 108 fund raisers this year, but still she came up with just $5 million to Bush's $56 million.
"It's money, money, money." she told to her finance committee.
She made up her mind alone on Sunday night, she said, during the five-hour flight home from a Seattle campaign stop.
insistent on meticulous preparation, Dole frustrated some supporters by putting off — then toning down — big policy addresses and neglecting to take advantage of her strong third-place showing in the Iowa straw poll.
Rather than stick it out and hope for a revival in upcoming GOP debates, Dole wanted to get out now, aides said, before spending herself into debt just to meet ballot-access deadlines in key states.
Beginning in 1996, Bush locked up GOP endorsements and big money raisers before Dole had even resigned her presidency of the nonpartisan American Red Cross, she said.
New Indonesian president welcomed with protests, riots
The Associated Press
JAKARTA, Indonesia — A revered but frail Islamic party leader won the first open presidential election in Indonesia's troubled history yesterday, defeating the popular daughter of the country's founding father and setting off a wave of violent protests by her disillusioned supporters.
Abdurrahman Wahid comes to power as Indonesia grapples with its worst economic crisis in 30 years and continuing communal and separatist violence across this ethnically diverse archipelago of 210 million people. His election gives Islam unprecedented influence in the world's largest Muslim nation.
In the wake of the vote, gunshots were heard throughout the capital. Jakarta.
drifted awav.
About 10,000 supporters of Wahil's rival, Megawati Sukarnoputri, tried to march on Parliament, throwing rocks and gasoline bombs at police who stopped them with tear gas and warning shots. The clashes continued into the night before protesters
Gangs also roamed some streets and tried to hijack cars. At least one man was killed when a car exploded, injuring 18. A separate homemade bomb, hidden in a flower pot, injured five people at the city's main traffic circle. A third bomb went off harmlessly in a street after Jakarta's huge convention center was set on fire.
inside the heavily guarded Parliament, Wahid — who has suffered two strokes, is nearly blind and can barely walk — was supported by two aides as he shuffled to a podium to make his inaugural speech calling for national unity.
Although Wahid, 59, heads Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, he has long supported cooperation among faiths and continuing the separation between religion and government. Wahid, better known by his nickname, Gus Dur, is regarded as a voice of tolerance and democratic reform.
"It will be a heavy task to create a peaceful and prosperous society in the future," Wahid said in his first speech as president.
The Associated Press
ST. JOHN'S. Antigua Hurricane Jose ripped roofs from houses, tore down a newly built church and flung debris through deserted streets yesterday as it made a direct hit on Antigua and threatened a string of other Caribbean islands.
Storm-weary islanders in neighboring St. Kitts braced themselves as Jose bore down packing 100 mph winds and drenched rain.
"It's projected to move right across the Leeward Islands. All of them are within the direct line of the storm — Montserat, Antigua, Barbuda, Nevis, St. Kitts, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, Anguilla," said meteorologist Bill Frederick of the U.S. Hurricane Center in Miami.
There is a strong chance the storm would not reach the U.S. East Coast, meteorologist Michael Formosa said.
But Jose was expected to hit the
Richard Bachman / KANSAN
British Virgin Islands before veering to the north, a turn that would save the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The Bahamas also were placed on hurricane alert.
Jose dumped rain and rolled up waves on Antigua yesterday afternoon as it moved northwestward at 12 mph. Hurricane-force winds extended up to 35 miles and were expected to strengthen and broaden.
Millennium's approach may result in terrorism extremism, FBI warns
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The FBI plans to warn state and local police to be alert for possible attacks at the turn of the millennium by hate or apocalyptic groups.
"There are no specific threats, but we often alert law enforcement agencies about impending dates with significance for potential terrorists," FBI representative Bill Carter said yesterday.
Each year, for instance, the FBI reminds state and local law enforcement of the April 19 anniversary of the 1995 bombing of an Oklahoma City federal building and the 1993 federal assault on the Branch Davidian sect outside Waco, Texas.
The bureau intends to distribute a 40-page research report, entitled Project Megiddo, named after an ancient battleground in Israel cited in the Bible's New Testament as the site of a millennial battle between forces of good and evil.
battle between forces. The FBI report analyzes the potential for extremist criminal activity in the United States by individuals or domestic groups who attach special significance to the year 2000, according to a bureau document. The significance is based primarily upon apocalyptic religious beliefs or political beliefs concerning the New World Order conspiracy theory.
"Our concern is with fringe, hate or apocalyptic groups or lone wolf members of them who may pose a threat," Carter said. "We're not focusing on militias."
In fact, ever since the Oklahoma City bombing, the FBI has asked its 56 field offices to meet with militia groups in their regions periodically to foster better communication and explain that the FBI is not targeting the majority of militia members engage in law abiding activities, a bureau statement said.
The FBI said some militias had taken positive steps toward ridding themselves of violent extremist elements.
"These extreme members will splinter from more established groups and engage in violence autonomously," the bureau said. "More mainstream militia groups have been helpful in identifying the more extremist elements of the militia who may resort to acts of violence."
FBI officials will distribute copies of the report and discuss it at a meeting of the International Association of Chiefs of Police later this month in Charlotte, N.C. Later, copies will be sent to state and local law enforcement agencies, Carter said. At some point, a version might be made public.
Additional Information
More Nation/World News
See pages 9B & 10B