"...would have never occurred under the watch of...Robert Dole."
Yes, they would. Dole, if you don't remember, was so used to being in the minority that he would have compromised anything. He's a good man, but a real middle of the roader (left-leaning Republican). He wouldn't have been as bad as Trent "it's all about ME" Lot, though.
As much as conservatives-especially fiscal conservatives-like to carp about the leadership of Bob Dole, he was-on balance-one of the most principled advocates for his party, specifically, and I'd even argue the conservative philosophy, in general, that has ever served in the U.S. Senate.
From his vigorous effort at the beginning of his career to offer the free market alternative of Elder Care, in lieu of LBJ's adventure into socialized medicine for retirees, to his unstinting support for the state of Israel in its relentless battle against Islamic terror states, to his fierce advocacy of reform for the entire underlying structure of AFDC-while being entirely cognizant of the fact that this welfare reform, with the signature of Bill Clinton, would have a distinctly negative impact upon his presidential campaign that year-to perhaps his most impressive achievement, completely stopping HillaryCare dead in its tracks, there was never a moment when Senator Dole shirked his duties to either his party or his country.
I think that a lot of people too often mistake comity for complaisance.
The fact that he enjoyed cordial relations with his colleagues-even those, like George McGovern who held obnoxiously leftist viewpoints-does not mean that he was a pushover.
Not in the least.
-good times, G.J.P. (Jr.)