Dole Tells Colleagues He’ll Press On : Says He Will Oppose Bush At Least Until April 5 Wisconsin Vote

Despite the heavy odds against him and increasing pressure for him to abandon his faltering presidential campaign, Sen. Bob Dole told colleagues Wednesday that he is determined to press ahead at least through the April 5 Wisconsin Republican primary.

At a meeting of about a dozen senators backing Dole that was held to discuss the status of his campaign, all of those attending expressed support for his decision to remain in the race, Sen. Warren B. Rudman (R-N.H.) said.

“His mood was really good, and he sounded upbeat,” Rudman said of Dole, who did not physically attend the 30-minute meeting but conversed with the senators by speaker phone. The Senate colleagues urged Dole to continue his campaign on the slim chance that he might begin to turn the tide in Wisconsin.

Dole still faces a tough uphill battle, especially in the wake of Vice President George Bush’s lopsided victory in Tuesday’s Illinois primary. Bush’s aides said the vice president has a virtual lock on the nomination, and GOP Chairman Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr.--apparently agreeing--hinted that Dole should withdraw in the interest of party unity.

774 to 178 Delegates

Even some of Dole’s supporters also have suggested that he should consider abandoning the race. Bush has won 774 delegates, by Associated Press calculations, while Dole has only 178 and former religious broadcaster Pat Robertson 17. With 1,139 delegates needed for the nomination, Dole would need to win more than 75% of the remaining delegates to be nominated.

Dole remained mostly out of view Wednesday, but he did emerge long enough to declare that none of his advisers or colleagues would decide his future as a candidate. “I decide what I’m going to do here,” he declared.

He said his colleagues had been “very friendly, very positive, very upbeat” and had encouraged him to “hang in there.”

Some of his campaign advisers even suggested that the indictments of four key figures in the Iran-Contra scandal Wednesday might help revive the Senate minority leader’s campaign by focusing attention on Bush’s role in the sale of U.S. arms to Iran.

But the Iran-Contra scandal has not had much of an impact in the Republican race so far, and the campaign advisers acknowledge that its odds of becoming a major issue are long. “It could have some impact, but my guess is it will be marginal,” declared one senior Dole adviser who asked not to be identified.

Seldom Raised as Issue

Dole hit the issue hard several times in Illinois, assailing those who “traded arms to the Ayatollah.” But Los Angeles Times exit polls showed that relatively few voters mentioned the matter as an important campaign issue.

In fact, Dole himself said at the end of the Illinois campaign that the Iran-Contra scandal had not had much of an impact, though he declared that it would be a major issue for the Democrats in the fall.

Rudman, a strong Dole supporter who served on the Senate committee that investigated the scandal, said he doubts that the indictments and continuing investigation of the scandal by an independent counsel will have much impact on the Republican race.

However, he added: “There are things out there that George Bush will have trouble with in the fall running against the Democrats, and he’ll have to deal with them.”

At the meeting held by Dole’s supporters, Rudman said, “he asked us what we thought, and we said one thing we were concerned about was: ‘We don’t want you taking any hits that will cause you harm.’ ”

‘Three Weeks Won’t Matter’

Dole, according to Rudman, replied by phone from his office: “Don’t worry, I’ve lost before, and I’ll lose again, but I’ve had three years of this, and another three weeks won’t matter, and things can change.”

“I think he’ll go another three weeks or so and assess it after Wisconsin,” Rudman declared after the meeting, which he said was called by Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) and held in Domenici’s office. “Whether he’ll stay in then depends on how he’s doing.”

GOP Chairman Fahrenkopf, emphasizing that he is neutral in the race, nevertheless suggested that it was time for Dole and Robertson to “start thinking about November” and the campaign against the Democratic presidential nominee.

He pointed out the heavy mathematical odds against both Dole and Robertson and suggested that they should “realistically” reassess why they are still in the race. Robertson has said he is determined to remain in the race to the GOP convention in New Orleans in August.

On the other hand, Sen. Larry Pressler (R-S.D.), who attended the meeting of Dole’s colleagues at the Capitol, said Dole should remain a candidate for the sake of the party despite the odds against him.

Wants GOP Curtain Up

“It would be unhealthy for a presidential campaign to be over so early,” Pressler said. “Even if he doesn’t win it, he’ll contribute to the debate. Otherwise, the Republican curtain will go dark, and that would be a disaster for the party.”

Dole’s colleague from Kansas, Sen. Nancy Landon Kassenbaum, also suggested that it was important for him to remain in the race if there is a way “it benefits the party and benefits him and keeps the campaign on a positive level.”

But she added: “I’m not sure it can be done that way. Maybe it’s not worth the strain of continuing on.”

Staff writer Eric Lichtblau contributed to this story.

POPULAR VOTE IN PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES

All contests to date

DEMOCRATS

99.8% of precincts reporting Jackson 2,892,286 26.5% Dukakis 2,803,208 25.7% Gore 2,489,615 22.8% Gephardt 1,234,942 11.3% Simon 835,988 7.7% Hart 299,459 2.7% Uncommitted 193,915 1.8% Others 95,019 0.9% Babbitt 66,355 0.6%

REPUBLICANS

99.7% of precincts reporting Bush 3,265,631 55.4% Dole 1,547,710 26.3% Robertson 680,423 11.6% Kemp 290,755 4.9% DuPont 47,117 0.8% Uncommitted 31,398 0.5% Haig 22,530 0.4% Others 3,820 0.1%

Primary states to date: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina (GOP only), South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont.

Source: Associated Press