Dole Is Palatable To Many On Right

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."

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."

"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."

If she'd admit that her former views with respect to firearms were *mistaken* I might believe her.

Dole's making new statements that contradict previous ones [and ignoring them as if they never were made] doesn't give me any warm fuzzies AT ALL.

I just opened a fundraising letter from the Dole 2002 Committee. They want me to join the Dole Senate team. Fat chance. I'm trying to write a reply that will show my disgust with her, that at the same time won't put me on a list of people who are out to get her.

Guys, I don't care WHAT she says, at best she is a RINO and I would rather vote for a RAT than vote for someone that I KNOW is going to change her vote the second she is elected. This is John Edwards Jr in training and her Clinton follower husband isn't much better

And she would be the most likely to switch parties as anyone else in Congress. This woman is dangerous and I don't care what party gets what in Congress anymore. I really did used to care, but of course that was before King George started lopping Amendments off the Constitution and setting up unconstitutional military tribunals.

It's a principle, not a vote(of course that was back when we were a Federal Republic many many years ago). Now the masses just go to the polls to cast a popularity vote rather than voting for the leaders that will define this nation.

Liddy Dole is the exact one reason that the 17th Amendment should have never been passed. It took the power out of the hands of the state legislatures and put it into the hands of a nameless mob, the 'people'. Ever wonder why the Founders didn't want the higher house voted on by the people? Two words. Liddy Dole

With attitudes like yours the Democrats should have no fear of losing the Senate. Unlike Democrats, we have to apply a litmus test on each and every candidate. If they don't pass muster and qualify as a "true conservative" then they are abandoned.

Hell, Democrats don't care if they run a Zell Miller or a Ted Kennedy just so they win. I'm afraid consevatives are happier out of power and bitching than in power where they have to produce.

It's so much easier blaming the left, the RINO's, the media, the Democrats, etc. etc. instead of ourselves. Talk about a victim mentality...

If they sent you a postage paid envelope for your contribution, write a check made out to her personally for $0.00 and be sure to write in "NOTHING" in the space for the amount in text. That would speak much louder than any personal note. They toss personal notes unless they can be used as endorsements anyway. Checks they keep.

It won't stop her, but she'll get the message.

Then my advice to you is: DON'T COMPLAIN.

Yours is the attitude of a small child who throws a tantrum if everything doesn't go their way. Because you can't have it all you are content to end up with nothing. Not too smart.

If they don't pass muster they're rejected? Russ, that's the biggest lie I've seen anyone tell since the Clinton lovers slunk offstage. The RNC is pushing foul socialist candidates in state races as a strategy. They almost got an NAACP liberal elected governor in Virginia despite the loud resistance of Virginia conservatives by staging a phony convention instead of allowing a primary.

You obviously care more for the party than for the nation.

Bill, you notice that Dole's toadies are already trying to act as though she already has the nod and is the only choice besides a democrat? That makes me sick. The only thing worse than some of these republicans is a member of the CPUSA.

If I cared more about the party than the nation I wouldn't care who controlled congress. This country has a helluva lot better chance of surviving with Republicans in control than Democrats.

You might not see the difference between a Liddy Dole in the Senate and a Hillary Clinton but I sure do. I'm just glad you are, and will continue to be, a minority voice within the conservative movement.

The GOP wins here - overwhelmingly - but only when it gives voters a clear choice, not an echo.

Then perhaps you would like to explain why both state-houses and the Governorship are controlled by Democrats? Is the problem with whom the Republican Party puts up for office instead of the voters? Or is the problem too many people are voting Democratic?

I admit, Vinroot was weak and Faircloth ran a miserable campaign. So, where are the "clear choice" Republicans and hard-charging Republican Party?

Yours is the attitude of a small child who throws a tantrum if everything doesn't go their way. Because you can't have it all you are content to end up with nothing. Not too smart

So your philosphy is 'as long as it's my version of Socialism, just so the other guy's version of Socialism doesn't get in'?

You know that old story about the scorpion and the turtle(or snake)? I promise I won't sting you, just as long as you get me across the river? With that attitude, I hope you're ready to accept the flag of the UN flying over your house because we'll be sold down the river shortly

My response to you is DON'T COMPLAIN, EVER!!! Because unfortunately, Liddy Dole will get in and she will be at every press conference John Edwards has backing his ideas 100 percent. And you can look back and say to yourself, "I helped put that RINO in office, but hey we've got control of the Senate"(as if it will matter)

This country has a helluva lot better chance of surviving with Republicans in control than Democrats.

Oh, yeah, look at the job Bush has done in the past month. Wiped out 20% of the Bill of Rights, set up federal control of airports, embraced Islam by going to Ramadan feasts, and set up military tribunals.

But he gives good speeches!!!

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