Dole Rises Above Abortion Rhetoric For Tolerance There Should Always Be Room For Compromise.

Politics isn’t holy war. It’s the alternative to holy war. And it isn’t holy, at all - except in its result: the peaceful coexistence of people who vehemently disagree.

Those who wish to serve as president of the United States need enough integrity to be trusted when they lead - and enough flexibility to find a middle ground. It’s a contradiction that bedevils everyone who has held the job: principle vs. compromise. A leader needs both.

GOP presidential nominee-in-waiting Bob Dole has both qualities, and he is catching hell for it. This comes with the territory. The Republican Party is poised to lock in an electoral majority, supplanting the Democratic Party among Southern voters and embracing the increasingly conservative mainstream. The GOP’s revival owes much to Christian conservatives, who gave it a fresh army of volunteers. The religious right handicaps the party’s future, however, with a refusal to tolerate dissent on one issue: abortion.

Dole has said he deplores abortion. He also aims to represent the American majority, including some Republicans, who support a woman’s right to choose. So he proposes that the GOP’s platform plank opposing abortion acknowledge the fact that Republicans disagree on the issue. The true believers call that betrayal; some threaten to savage Dole at the nominating convention and sit out the campaign.

It’s not betrayal. It’s a sign of maturity.

Bill Clinton, who is more acquainted with compromise than principle, has embraced Dole’s stand, grinning like a Cheshire cat at the hope his Judas’ kiss will attract Pharisees to a crucifixion.

On Tuesday when Dole resigned from the Senate, he quoted Ronald Reagan’s sage advice that “if I can get 90 percent of what I want, I’d call that a pretty good deal.” The religious right agrees with most of Dole’s other objectives. Its tantrums might weaken Dole - or might make him more appealing to moderates.

When Dole left the Senate floor, senators of every persuasion gave him a long and sincere ovation, reminding us all that the Senate is one place where Americans who fiercely disagree still can compromise for the common good, call each other “gentleman” and mean it. The day we lose that tradition will be the day democracy loses its capacity to govern a free and diverse people.

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