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."
That's an attempt at painting a false picture. If you have to lie to get conservatives to accept Dole, then that shows what you're about. Why doesn't the GOP try to offer a conservative candidate instead of an obvious socialist? Are you so stupid as to believe that democrats will cross over and vote republican? I don't think you're that stupid. I think that you're deliberately trying to get more socialist politicians into office. Now, why would that be?
I'm not even a member of your silly socialist party. You're about to find out that conservatives are just about done with you boys and the reason is what you're trying to pull here. Look at what Virginia conservatives did to Earley this month. If your party bosses insist on getting Dole the nomination, then you won't be able to blame conservatives when she loses. That won't stop you from blaming the conservative base though. You always do when you lose. They're accusing us of voting for Warner up here now, though we obviously didn't.
The only way the GOP can get trash like Dole elected is to subvert the primary process, then play the fear mongering game of " it's us or the democrats". That's sick. Y'all should be ashamed of yourselves. Conservatives are already ashamed of you.
I have never ever heard this phrase used to describe a capable and competent person. The usual context is something like "well it's true he makes a lot of mistakes and forgets things a lot, but his heart is in the right place." Kind of like "he means well."
You still haven't. It was used to describe a RINO, socialist, hack, who will say or do anything to advance herself.
Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't know you were the sole "Keeper of the Names of All True Republicans". Pardon me, non-Tarheel.
Well, "Helms-Style" she isn't...but far, far better than another Edwards.
Can I use that to introduce myself whenever I meet new people or is that title only valid in NC?
Looks like you and I are a minority of two on this thread, anyway! LOL!
Since you're the one who decides who's a real Repblican and who isn't, why are you asking my permission or advice? You've already proclaimed me a to be a RINO without asking me why I've decided to vote for Dole, so I don't know why you'd bother asking me anything--you should also be able to divine the answer to your own question.
I think President Bush is doing a fabulous job, and
If I lived in NC, I would vote for Elizabeth Dole, because
George W. Bush is the most genuinely God-fearing Christian ever in the White House and Mrs. Dole is better than ANY RAT that helps to keep the Senate in RAT hands!
Then we'll have a bigger and better version of the Patriot Act?
John Edwards will run for re-election in 2004. Maybe then.
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