Bob Dole Urges Mitt Romney To Confront The Republican Party's Right Wing

Telegraph article via Business Insider ^ | 8-23-2012 | Jon Swaine

[blam]

Bob Dole Urges Mitt Romney To Confront The Republican Party's Right Wing

Jon Swaine, The Telegraph
August 23, 2012, 5:34 PM

Wikimedia Commons

Mr. Dole, a former Kansas Senator defeated by Bill Clinton 16 years ago, said the party should follow his example of "mainstream" Republicanism and become more appealing to ethnic minorities and young people to secure its future.

"We have got to be open," he said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. "We cannot be a single-issue party or single-philosophy party". He added: "There's a big split in our party. There's this undercurrent of rigid conservatism where you don't dare not toe the line".

The intervention from the Republican elder statesman comes after Todd Akin, an ultraconservative Missouri congressman, hijacked Mr Romney's preparations for the party's convention in Florida next week with his controversial remarks on abortion and "legitimate rape".

Mr Dole, now 89, disclosed that he had advised Mr Romney on running for president during a meeting at his Washington office in November. He said the former Massachusetts governor showed "flexibility" and a willingness to forge the type of bipartisan deals rejected by current Republican leaders in Congress.

He conceded that the presidential hopeful, who has an estimated $250 million (£160 million) fortune, had struggled to charm American voters still suffering from economic woe. "They may not be enamoured with some wealthy candidate," he said. "But I think Romney will be a great president with his business background and wonderful family."

He described Mr Romney and Paul Ryan, his running mate, as a "great team", noting a similarity between Mr Romney and himself. "When he said he could work across the aisle, it caught my attention, because that's what I tried to do," he said.

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[KansasGirl]

Unfortunately,, Dole is trying to defeat conservatives here in KS too. Totally despise Bob Dole and am glad he was never President.

[ConservativeStatement]

[ctpsb]

Says the winner(’76,”96) of two national elections....not!!

Funny he says this when Romney selecting Ryan signaling a rightward shift has led to a surge in the latest polls (hopefully the trend continues).