With A Lucky Penny And Lots Of Fortitude, Dole Marches On

In the face of fire all around, the good soldier soldiers on.

Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas - war veteran and political veteran - has had his share of disappointments this winter. He’s watched his huge approval ratings plummet. He’s been ridiculed for his awkward delivery and harsh rhetoric. He’s been edged out of a major primary by a professional television personality.

And yet this time there was no sulking, no blaming, no crying over what might have been.

On his 727 jet, dubbed “The Leader’s Ship,” Dole held out a penny he found on his way out of the Center of New Hampshire Holiday Inn. “A lucky penny,” he said, before dropping it back into his left pants pocket.

Now, with luck, he hopes to show voters what he calls “the real Bob Dole,” but in truth there are many Bob Doles here on the campaign trail. Some days, like in Grand Junction, Colo., he is focused and sharp. Other days, like here in Medford, he is disjointed and hard to follow.

When he began his presidential campaign about a year ago, Dole was trying to appeal to the right flank of the party, denouncing Hollywood for its sex scenes, its gratuitous violence and its X-rated music lyrics. He returned a campaign contribution from a group of gay Republicans despite his long-held views opposing discrimination against any group.

Now, the emergence of Patrick J. Buchanan has pulled him toward the center of his party and given him something new to talk about. He has broadened his struggle for the nomination to something more important than one man’s aspirations - a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party. The fight is one of mainstream vs. extreme, he says, about hope vs. fear.

Still, he is gracious in his disagreements. “I like Pat Buchanan as a person,” he said. “It doesn’t mean I have to agree with him. I’m trying to keep the party afloat.”

But this is not a natural campaigner who revels in the sound of his own voice before large crowds of adoring fans. Asked if he likes to give a campaign speech, Dole pauses, then says, “Well, I kind of like to visit with them afterward.” And he admits that “I’m not very good at reading a speech.”

He’s not always very good at giving them off the cuff, either. One of his favorite words is “whatever,” generally used to end a sentence when he can’t find any other way out.

Over the past few days his stream-of-consciousness talks have provided some classic Doleisms. For example:

“I’m not certain what everyone is looking for in a candidate for president, maybe as soon as not have any at all, just leave it vacant. But there’s going to be one; every country ought to have one; so we’re out here campaigning.”

“You really never know very much about all these candidates. They blow in town; then they blow off; and then they blow out again.”

Where he excels, however, is in the personal touch. He remembers people’s names. He asks about a local politician’s new hip in Sioux Falls, S.D.

And he talks to the local voters in detail about whatever legislative issue they might be confronting at the moment, like property and water rights in Colorado and disaster assistance in Oregon.

But when he is not holding a conversation or answering a question, Dole is self-conscious and uncomfortable. At Tektronix he seemed to be talking more to himself than to the voters to explain why he has been bruised so badly these past few months.

“The political process is pretty complicated, and sometimes it gets a little negative, and sometimes people are frustrated,” he said.

“I know we don’t like negative ads, but I can tell you, if you’re on the receiving end, they have an impact.”