Posted on 11/20/2001 6:45:36 AM PST by Gothmog
GOP front-runner courts conservatives, shifts some positions
JACKSONVILLE - Peggy Vance has been one of Jesse Helms' political foot soldiers for three decades. In fact, she has all but canonized the Republican senator, referring to him as "Saint Jesse."
Which is why it bodes well for Elizabeth Dole that Vance showed up last week at a Dole campaign lunch at Hilda's Restaurant in this Eastern North Carolina military town.
"Jesse Helms' shoes are going to be hard to fill, but I believe Mrs. Dole's small feet will fit in his shoes very well," said Vance, a 70-year-old Republican from Jacksonville.
Dole has been working hard to fill those shoes, courting the party conservatives who helped send Helms to the Senate five times. She is trying to head off attacks from the right by little-known Republican opponents who have been questioning whether she is a true Helms-style conservative.
The Salisbury native also has moved to quash an issue that could damage her with party conservatives: her outspoken support for gun-control legislation during her presidential campaign last year. Dole has shifted her whole tone with regard to gun control, and changed positions on such issues as laws allowing the carrying of concealed weapons and the ban on assault weapons.
So far, she seems to be succeeding in wooing the party's right. Interviews with a number of conservatives suggest that although they don't view Dole as a conservative firebrand, they believe she may be their best chance to hold Helms' seat and regain control of the U.S. Senate.
"We've come to realize there is a balance in the Senate that necessitates to Christian conservative Republicans that this must not be lost," said Sim DeLapp of Lexington, who stepped down in January as chairman of the state chapter of the Christian Coalition. "We may not have it precisely as we like it. But we do realize that Mrs. Dole is a workable alternative."
Two of her Republican opponents, Lexington lawyer Jim Snyder and Jim Parker, a radiologist from Lumberton, hope to capitalize on some of the conservative doubts about Dole.
Snyder suggests Dole may be soft on gun control and abortion -- the two issues he is emphasizing in a television commercial this month.
"Would she be in a position to sustain the Jesse Helms approach with respect to Jesse Helms issues?" asked Snyder, who noted that Dole started her career in Washington in the White House of Democratic President Lyndon Johnson.
Parker, along with some conservative North Carolina newspapers, argues that Dole has never been a true conservative during her Washington career, which spanned the administrations from Johnson to the elder George Bush. They criticize her on a range of issues from having once attended the same liberal Methodist church as Bill and Hillary Clinton to backing set-aside contracts for minorities as Labor secretary.
Dole declined to be interviewed for this article. But at a GOP banquet in Durham on Sunday, she said: "I'm a conservative, and people in North Carolina know that."
Dole's views on gun control have shifted since she sought the Republican nomination for president in 2000 and began campaigning in gun-loving North Carolina.
Differentiating herself from then- Texas Gov. George W. Bush, Dole was the only GOP presidential candidate to voice support for three-day background checks for guns bought at gun shows. She opposed laws allowing the carrying of concealed weapons, supported bans on assault rifles and on armor-piercing bullets, and supported laws requiring trigger locks on guns.
"It's the right thing to do, and I won't shy away from the tough issues, even if some in my party don't like it," Dole said in May 1999 of her support for gun-control legislation.
But since entering the Senate race in North Carolina in September, Dole and her campaign staff have worked to smooth things over with the National Rifle Association, the influential lobby for gun owners.
Dole issued a statement last month to the N.C. Rifle & Pistol Association, an NRA affiliate, which had a different tone from the remarks she made during her presidential campaign.
"We do not need new restrictions on those who already observe the thousands of gun laws on the books," Dole wrote. "Full enforcement of current laws will make North Carolina safe. Full respect for the Second Amendment will keep North Carolina free."
Her positions on two gun-related issues seem to have shifted.
During her presidential campaign, Dole said that she opposed laws that allow carrying concealed weapons but that the matter should be left up to the states. "Police work is hard enough already," Dole said in May 1999. "No one should make it harder. I think it's wrong to let people carry concealed weapons."
But last month, she endorsed North Carolina's law allowing the carrying of concealed weapons.
"North Carolina has another common-sense proposal in place: a right-to-carry law that allows citizens to obtain a concealed-handgun permit from the local sheriff after being trained and certified," Dole wrote. "I have met with North Carolina sheriffs who know the law is working. It works because criminals do not like to prey on those who can defend themselves."
During the presidential campaign, Dole denounced assault rifles.
"While I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, I simply cannot accept that in modern America you need an AK-47 to defend your family," Dole said in 1999. "I won't shy away from the tough issues, even if some in my party don't like it."
But as a Senate candidate, Dole wrote: "Seven years after President Clinton and his allies outlawed so-called 'assault' weapons, there appears to have been little effect on crime prevention or punishment."
Trish Gregory, an NRA spokeswoman in Washington, said the group has not begun considering whom it will support. But she said, "The NRA was pleased with the letter, and we like what we see."
Parker, the Lumberton radiologist, said Dole's changes on gun control were very unlike Helms and should give gun owners pause.
"To me, it shows that Elizabeth Dole is a consummate politician," Parker said. "She started her career in 1965 in Washington, D.C., and she hasn't made it this far without covering her tracks and spinning her views when the political winds blow."
Dole's position on abortion has closely tracked that of President Bush, supporting a ban on abortions except in instances of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is in danger. Her remarks suggest that abortion would not be high on her agenda as it was with Helms.
Dole received more criticism than Bush for her abortion views because for a period in the presidential campaign she was reluctant to talk about them. As the first serious female candidate for president, Dole was receiving the support of many women of varying views on abortion.
"I would support the idea of a constitutional amendment [to ban abortions] if it were possible. But of course it's not," Dole said in a letter released to a supporter in Phoenix during 1999. "It's not going to happen because the American people do not support it. We should agree to respectfully disagree.
"We can concentrate instead on what we agree about most. We can stop partial-birth abortions, enact parental-notification requirements, continue the ban on government funding and do everything possible to place unwanted babies with adoptive parents who will love and care for them."
Politically active abortion opponents say they would like to know more about Dole's record.
"I'm inclined to be favorable toward her," said Paul "Skip" Stam, an Apex lawyer and former state legislator. "But I am in a waiting mode. She certainly brings a lot to the table. Her opponents are completely unknown to the conservative community as far as I can tell."
U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes of Concord, who has close ties to religious conservatives, said that although he does not endorse in the primary, he can vouch for her.
"I have the utmost respect for Elizabeth Dole," Hayes said. "She is a person whose Christian beliefs and principles are unquestioned. We may not agree precisely on every issue, but her heart is in the right place."
Helms has traditionally remained neutral in GOP primaries, but his long-standing friendship with Dole and her husband, former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, could test that policy. One of Helms' closest associates, Dr. Bert Coffer, who was Helms' campaign treasurer in 1996, is hosting a fund-raiser for Dole at his Raleigh home on Dec. 6.
At her campaign luncheon, Dole impressed Velma Thompson, 71, of Jacksonville, a retired school bus monitor who raised six children.
Thompson, a member of the First Freewill Baptist Church, believes abortion is murder and greatly admires Helms' brand of politics.
"I don't think anybody can be as conservative as Jesse Helms," she said. "No one can fill his shoes. But I think she is next best on the list."
I question them. So I guess the statement's in error.
Dan
How do you overcome that? I guess she's saying the right things now, but if she's elected, anyone want to bet she votes to renew the assault-weapons ban when it comes up in 2004?
If the Republicans regain control in 2004, and by more than one or two seats, it will make it much easier for Bush to get his judicial appointments through, for one thing. Not to mention if he needs to appoint someone to the Supreme Court.
I'm no more satisfied with the prospect of Dole in the Senate than you are but since it's a numbers game and not an ideological game that determines where the power resides then our first order of business is to get as many Republicans elected as possible.
You say this as if it were something conservatives should welcome. Strange.
Which Liddy Dole is the real Liddy Dole? The new pro-gun Liddy Dole - or the one who's a candidate only because she's the trophy wife of the retired RINO senator who brought us the "assault-weapons" ban?
If elected, will this carpetbagger flip-flop again on guns - and on all social issues - the moment she takes office?
At least we all know what Jim Parker stands for; he's one of us - and always has been - on gun issues.
Is Liddy Dole's recent voter registration in this state illegal?
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Let the coronation begin!
Dole is weak gruel compared to Jesse. She will not fill his shoes in any appreciable way but in this media-driven society where media-Liberalism is King, the Dole Bandwagon is what the establishment Republicans are jumping onto, given the threat of another loss. Jesse Helms' shoes are going to be hard to fill (Robin Hayes would be the best Republican to do it). Indeed, the best hope to hold the seat will be the tiny feet of Ms Dole, and even that is problematic. The Republican establishment will assure Hayes won't even get the chance.
John Edwards has proven Liberal Trial Lawyers are admired, even in the South, if they are slick enough, have a smooth southern accent, and mouth the "right" words! North Carolina is changing and has an increasing number of Eastern-Style liberals to vote along with the yellow-dog Democrats.
That extra congressional seat NC picked up in the 2000 census? Expect it to be filled by a Democrat for sure, and that is all that will be lost if we are lucky. The battle in the Legislature for only that loss is far from over! In addition, Robin Hayes' seat is a targeted Republican seat the Democrats are busy gerrymandering into their column. They have an excellent chance of succeeding. They also came very close to also getting rid of Charles Taylor by outrageous gerrymandering until the citizens in his district rose in loud protest and nearly threatened a lynching at the state capital. But they still might get Taylor's Republican seat if the Democrat Senate has it's way - and it may. The 2002 redistricting has been a disaster for Republicans and the bleeding is far from over. We could lose up to three seats for sure, instead of just one.
North Carolina is again going to be a firmly Democrat state and soon. Dole won't/can't stop the process. She is too weak along with the rest of the Republicans. The Democrats are on a roll here. Too many Eastern Liberals have moved here in the past ten years. That is the story all over the country (in the West, it's California Liberals).
The cancer has metastaicized in America.
That kind of strongarm federal bullying of the states doesn't sound too Republican to me.
NC oughta tell Liddy to take a hike.
Bull - Bush's 13-point win last year in a 25%-black state means Bush (mathematically) must have won virtually every European-American vote, female as well as male, married or unmarried, rich or poor, young or old, urban as well as rural (Bush won both Mecklenburg and Guilford Counties - the Charlotte and Greensboro areas), highly-educated or high-school-dropout, straight or gay or lesbian, registered Democrat or registered Republican.
The GOP wins here - overwhelmingly - but only when it gives voters a clear choice, not an echo.
Is Liddy Dole's recent voter registration in North Carolina even legal?
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