NATION/WORLD UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, March 15, 1995
5B
Front-runner label stuck on candidate Bob Dole
Try as he might he can't kick it so he's using it
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Sunday night it was Ross Perot's radio show, Monday morning a flight to New York to accept the endorsement of Gov. George Pataki. It's not easy being the Republican presidential front-runner.
But Sen. Bob Dole is getting used to it.
After initially shying away from the front-runner label, Dole now uses it himself on campaign statements and advisories. The way he sees it, he's stuck with the designation, so he might as well try to turn it to his advantage.
Dole recently he would wait to see what it looked like a year from now — when the first votes are cast.
"But it's a lot easier to sign people up this time," he said. "You get off the plane or walk into the room and it feels a lot better."
The comparison, of course, is to last time — 1988. Then, Dole won the Iowa caucuses. But he was crushed by George Bush in New Hampshire, then again in South Carolina, and Bush cruised through the Super Tuesday primaries on to the nomination and ultimately the White House.
So now, as Dole prepares for the 1996 campaign, a priority is to exorcise the ghosts of 1988.
Or to hire them.
As Dole vows not to relive the organizational deficiencies of his 1988 campaign, he is enlisting the aid of several 1988 Bush loyalists.
And he is carefully compiling lists of supporters. In New Hampshire, the Dole campaign says it has identified more than 25,000 supporters already; at the close of his 1988 effort in the state, Dole had 6,800 names on file.
"He has learned a lot from 1988 and is trying to avoid the same kind of tactical pitfalls," said David Carney, a former Bush political aide now helping Dole. "We will be much more organized and have a much deeper and broader organization than anyone in the country."
Rolling out endorsements from state GOP leaders, such as New York's Pataki, is part of Dole's effort to prove he will not be out-hustled this time. Courting Perot voters is another.
"But it won't be enough," contends Mike Murphy, who was Dole's media adviser in 1988 but is siding with former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander in the 1996 race.
"There is a great respect in the party for his loyalty and mastery of the legislative process," Murphy said. "But turning that into a compelling message for the presidency is a very difficult job. It is far from certain that Republicans want the legislative leader they love as their president."
This is the staple criticism of Dole: that his formidable legislative skills are not matched with vision; that when Dole talks about an issue, he talks about strategy and vote counts, not why a policy should be approved or defeated.
For all the work on organization, it is this deficiency, whether real or perceived, that even Dole's closest advisers concede must be eliminated.
"The first way we handle that is
going to be by our announcement," said Scott Reed, Dole's campaign manager. "He will lay out the reasons why he is running, both thematically and substantively, and we think those doubts will be answered."
As part of this effort, Dole last week proposed eliminating four Cabinet departments: Energy, Education, Commerce, and Housing and Urban Development.
A few months ago, Dole said he might declare he would serve only one term if elected. He said his thinking was that a one-term president could make tough choices without worrying about re-election, but the idea was quickly interpreted as a potential compromise to ease concerns about his age.
Dole, 71, has since nixed the one- term idea.
Still, just discussing such a concession has encouraged talk, even among Dole admirers, that he is a fragile front-runner, propped up for now by his high name recognition and high profile as Senate majority leader but destined to stumble, again, when voters start picking a potential president.
In shrugging off such doubts, Dole says he will offer a coherent message of reining in the power of government at home while responsibly exercising American leadership abroad. It is clear Dole also is counting on Republican voters to look at the field and decide that he has earned the nomination, even if they disagree with him on individual issues.
"I've been tested," he said. "I've provided leadership. I'm not a lone ranger. I know how to bring people together. I have been there in every battle for this party for a long time."
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