Elizabeth Dole Running/ Entering Senate Race to Succeed Helms

ABC News ^ | 9/10/01 | Mark Halperin

[kattracks]

W A S H I N G T O N, Sept. 10 — Months after Elizabeth Dole's name first surfaced as a possible Senate candidate from North Carolina, sources say the former presidential candidate is now ready to return to the campaign trail.

ABCNEWS has learned Dole plans to formally announce her bid for the Senate seat now held by retiring Sen. Jesse Helms on Tuesday in her hometown of Salisbury, N.C.

Since Helms announced his retirement last month, leading Republicans in Washington — from the White House to the committee charged with taking back control of the Senate for the GOP — have made it clear Dole is their first and only choice for the race.

Testing the Waters

Within days of Helms' announcement, Dole began telegraphing her intentions. After switching her party registration from Kansas (where her husband Bob was a longtime senator) to North Carolina, she made what advisers said were literally hundreds of telephone calls to activists, fund-raisers, officeholders, party leaders, and others in North Carolina and around the country to gauge support for a run.

Dole's candidacy is expected to attract much of the same level of attention Hillary Rodham Clinton generated last year in her successful run for the Senate in New York.

Unlike Clinton, who faced no credible primary opposition, Dole already has at least one Republican opponent, conservative former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot. Other candidates are still eyeing the race.

But like the former first lady, many of the Washington insiders who have long supported Dole and her husband say she will easily raise plenty of campaign money from across the country, making her the establishment favorite in the race. She also starts the race with greater popularity than most incumbent senators. And some Democrats are gearing up to hit Dole, who hasn't lived in North Carolina for years, with the same "carpetbagger" attacks Republicans used on Clinton in 2000.

At the same time, these establishment supporters are concerned about Dole's approach to the race so far. Her tentative decision-making during the 2000 presidential campaign left some observers thinking this former Cabinet member from the Reagan and Bush administrations is not cut out for the rough-and-tumble of electoral politics.

Although some Republicans would prefer to clear the field for Dole to give her an easier path to the nomination, others believe she will be a stronger general election candidate if forced to fight in a Republican primary.

On the Democratic side, state Secretary of State Elaine Marshall remains the only announced candidate, setting up the possibility Dole would face another woman in the general election.

[steveegg]

From the article:
Although some Republicans would prefer to clear the field for Dole to give her an easier path to the nomination, others believe she will be a stronger general election candidate if forced to fight in a Republican primary.
I prefer that said challenger knock off Libby Dole.

[Darth Sidious]

Yawn...

Another elitist shill, with nothing to stand on other than a Republican label and a hefty warchest.

Anyone else getting damned sick and tired of these snobs so out of touch with the regular people, who think a party moniker alone gives them the right to, ahem, "represent" us?

[fone]

From the article:

"making her

the establishment favorite in the race..."

'Bout says it all, eh?

[meadsjn]

She'll get tons of support from her old Democrat party buddies.

There has to be at least one conservative left in NC who can beat this liberal ditz in the primary.

[Pamlico]

Ms. Viagra does not do much for me. She will not get my money or vote in the primary. I am hoping that Burr will run. He is a true conservative.

[Rebelbase]

"There has to be at least one conservative left in NC who can beat this liberal ditz in the primary. "

Here is one who can:
Congressman Richard Burr

[OK]

Somebody today said that only conservative Republicans have been able to win in NC. I think the Doles are about to get their clocks cleaned by Jim Hunt.

[ohioWfan]

I prefer that said challenger knock off Libby Dole

FYI, her nickname is LIDDY. If you want to criticize her, you should at least know her name.

[Republican Wildcat]

It appears several Freepers like to emulate Terry McAuliffe for some reason.

[otterpond]

Since Helms announced his retirement last month, leading Republicans in Washington — from the White House to the committee charged with taking back control of the Senate for the GOP — have made it clear Dole is their first and only choice for the race.

Moderates supporting moderates. Go figure.

[steveegg]

Kindly read the fine print again:
There is a reason why she's Libby, and it isn't becuase her first name is Elizabeth

Whether you use the Liddy that comes from her first name or the Libby that comes from her politics, he's a RINO in the McShame/Jumpin' Jim/Spector of a man/Snowe-Job mold.

[steveegg]

Spell-check time. That should have been "...she's a RINO...."

[flwilliams]

Vote in an online poll on who should be the GOP nominee for Helms' seat at http://www.ncrepublicans.com

[Satadru]

No, you are right the first time. Libby Dole is clearly a man. At least that is what people would think by looking at Bob Dole.

[GOP-Pat]

I am a conservative. I intend to vote AND campaign for Elizabeth Dole. I have met her twice and she is a really nice lady. About the only thing I have heard her say that I disagree with is her stand on guns. Everybody I know likes her and intends to vote for her, (men and women) as they would have if she would have made it through the primaries for President. I worked on Jesse Helms campaign and love him dearly. Let's face it--there will NEVER be another Jesse. Even liberal Democrats liked him in NC and the reason for that is that everyone knew he was a man of his word and could not be swayed by polls. He had his beliefs and stuck to them no matter what and that's why so many people respected him, even though they might not agree with everything he said. I cried when he said he was resigning. No one can take his place but with that said, Elizabeth Dole is decent also and I believe she will make us a fine Senator.

As Zell Miller (a Democrat) said--(taken from a newspaper article) "And now he labels Liddy Dole a "carpetbagger"? How Hillaryous can you get? Down South, even if we vote against them, we are gracious to women or we suffer the consequences. Remember Clayton Williams's refusal to shake hands with Ann Richards in their 1990 governor's race? Southerners don't like that kind of stuff. New Yorkers must not either, as Rick Lazio found out. Liddy Dole, as we say down South, was "born and bred" in North Carolina. She is no carpetbagger."

Although lots of people are not as conservative as I would like them to be, let's face it--ultra conservatives do not win here nor most other places anymore. Jesse was the exception. Why do you think Leo Daughtry lost the primaries and Robin Hayes lost the last election? Ultra liberals and ultra conservatives seem to be a thing of the past, I'm sorry to say. (well I'm sorry to have to say that regarding ultra conservatives but not ultra liberal.) This country is broken into thirds (nearly) 1/3 liberal, 1/3 conservative and 1/3 moderates or middle of the road. Neither side can win in most areas unless they can get the support of those in the middle. I think Elizabeth Dole fits that mold pretty good. I do not believe that she is a RINO.

[karth]

I've always found Elizabeth Dole very brittle and stagey. Is there anyone here who likes her and why?

[Hop A Long Cassidy]

Liddy Dole, as I recall, hid the practice of race-norming employment tests. She was found out after several years of this disgrace.

In my opinion she is a Jeffords-type Republican.

But it probably doesn't matter, because she has a near lock on the nomination because of her husband's chits that he holds. This lock is what caused the Dole-as-president mess. Because he had the position to control the favors (and the nomination process), he was nominated to run for President... even when everyone knew he was too old and didn't have the image. Sort of like Japanese kamakaze pilots, knowing full well they would crash and burn.

I hope that she makes a conservative Senator.

Hop A Long Cassidy

[Satadru]

She is not just anti-second amendment, she is also pro-abortion. So, as a conservative, you will support a gun-grabber and a pro-abort. You should check your medication. Jessee Helms is not the exception, but a rule. A rule that says principle counts, and even when people disagree with you, they will vote for you because you have courage in your convictions. Liddy Dole, in her own words, "is everything you want her to be." She is a fair-weather politician, who checks the political pulse every fifteen seconds. She is a poor man's version of Hillary Clinton. I hope she runs a poor campaign, and is destroyed in the primary.

[Rowdee]

How will North Carolinians feel if she casts the deciding vote to eliminate gun ownership by Amerikans? And if y'all can accept that, where is the next line in the sand?

As I see it, liberalism is sort of like lying.....the first lie is the hardest; the second is not quite so bad; and in no time, lying becomes natural.

The same thing applies to politics, too....all these folks calling themselves conservatives will swallow hard, hold their nose, and pull the lever for someone they really don't like or believe in cause its the lesser of _____....or it ain't ____." After doing that method of voting the first time, it gets easier the second time--after all, the world didn't come to an end.

And it holds really true to politicians....they'll tell the voter one thing (to get elected) and then when a little pressure is applied by the 'good ol boys', they can swallow hard (a little bit cause it's not something downright 100% wrong or against principles), and then the second time this is required, it is a little easier causee they're still not giving up the ship.....but in no time, you see the ship disappearing under the surface of the water.....witness how Pete Domenici and Don Nichols have responded to not having enough money to spend.....