Dole Travels to Heartland for New Beginnings

Citizen Bob Dole, casually attired in a pale-blue sports jacket and an open-collar white shirt, brought his reconstituted presidential campaign to the heartland Thursday and portrayed himself as a common-sense Midwesterner who shares America’s values and aspirations.

“It’s good to be out of Washington, D.C.,” Dole said. “The campaign for the presidency begins in earnest.”

Striking out of the nation’s capital a day after announcing his impending retirement from the Senate, Dole asked an enthusiastic ballroom crowd here to “join with me in running the race together--to a brighter, better, more hopeful America.”

And he warned that a second Clinton term would bring out the president’s “unrestrained liberalism . . . and more big spending programs.”

Dole basked in the warm welcome he received from the few hundred supporters gathered in a downtown hotel here and campaign aides were cheered by the size of the press corps--58 reporters, more than at any point this year--who came along to record his words.

Nonetheless, in his first day in the newly brightened spotlight, Dole’s speech revealed continuing difficulties that his campaign has yet to overcome.

As even Dole’s advisors concede, presidential elections are not commonly decided by clever stratagems, but rather by voters’ deeply held beliefs about the national condition and about the chief contenders for the nation’s highest office.

Until now, those beliefs have been running strongly against Dole’s candidacy, according to a relentless series of public opinion polls--the most recent of which showed him trailing Clinton by 17 points.

If he is to improve his fortunes in this campaign and demonstrate that he has transformed himself from legislative leader into presidential candidate, analysts say Dole must establish three major themes about this candidacy:

* Contrast. After years of finding enough common ground with the Democrats on Capitol Hill to reach legislative bargains, Dole needs to sharpen the differences between himself and Clinton. Otherwise he can scarcely hope to convince the voters of the need for change.

Dole carried off that mission with gusto.

Speaking with the aid of a TelePrompTer, as he did during Wednesday’s resignation announcement, and backed by an array of flag-waving schoolchildren, Dole declared that “we need a president who puts trust in people, not government--a president who honors his commitments and means what he says.”

“Mr. Clinton promised to cut taxes, but then he imposed on the American people the largest tax increase in history,” Dole said. “In a Dole administration, the only way taxes will go is down, not up.

“My pledge to the American public is to say what I will do, and to do what I say.”

And he ad-libbed a gibe at Clinton’s celebrated effusiveness in professing compassion for the unfortunate. “Some will say ‘I feel your pain,’ ” Dole said. “I want to cure your pain.”

* Relevance. Dole “has to broaden the message beyond the arcane rules and processes of the Senate to the larger issues that Americans care about,” said University of Wisconsin presidential scholar Charles Jones.

“He has to start making connections with people about the things they care about, not the sort of penny-ante bickering that goes on in the Senate,” said longtime Dole advisor David Keene.

In that regard, Dole’s speech indicated continued problems as he often lapsed into his familiar cryptic ways, leaving his listeners with the burden of filling in the gaps. “I want to be president because I want to restore an instinct for decency to our national life and culture,” he said at one point without explaining what he had in mind.

* Independence. Now that Dole intends to sever his professional ties from the 104th Congress, some Republicans argue that Dole needs to find a way to define his own individual beliefs as distinguished from the policies advocated by the Republicans on Capitol Hill. For now, the congressional GOP agenda has provided the Democrats with potent ammunition to use against Dole’s candidacy.

“Clinton has been convincing the American people he is protecting them from the Republicans in Congress,” says GOP consultant Jude Wanniski, an advisor to Jack Kemp and Steve Forbes. “Dole is going to have to do the equivalent of a read-my-lips pledge and say to to voters that ‘I will protect you against the Republican Congress.’ ”

To be sure, not all Republicans would go that far. And Dole’s own sense of loyalty and kinship with his colleagues on Capitol Hill would inhibit him in this regard. But many analysts would argue that given the political realities, and Dole’s own differences with House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his allies, the interests of his candidacy would be served by creating some distance.

If Dole were to follow that advice, he would, of course, face considerable problems. Already, Democratic spokesmen are laying traps for him. Rep. Martin Frost of Texas, chairman of the House Democratic Campaign Committee, for example, has begun using Dole’s departure from Capitol Hill to bolster the Democratic condemnation of the Congress.

“Dole’s association with Gingrich and the House Republicans was apparently so harmful to the majority leader’s presidential efforts that he felt compelled to jump off the ship and battle the high seas on his own,” Frost jeered.

So far, however, Dole does not seem inclined to make a statement of independence from the congressional leadership. Indeed, his speech contained an unqualified defense of the congressional record.

“Let me remind you,” he said, “this Congress was elected by the American people to reform, and reform we did. We kept our promises.” Then he ticked off examples of legislation enacted, from welfare reform to tax cuts, which Clinton vetoed.

“The list could go on and on,” Dole said. “We kept our promises. He vetoed them. He also vetoed your hopes and your aspirations.”

And he sought to turn the Democratic indictment of extremism lodged against the GOP lawmakers on its head by declaring: “Just think where Bill Clinton would have taken America without a Republican Congress.”

A Dole administration, he said, would stand for “less government, lower taxes, flatter taxes, more freedom and a strong, proud America at home and abroad.”

In addition to highlighting his newfound freedom, Dole’s trip here also underscored his new appreciation for image-making.

When the candidate arrived at National Airport in mid-morning to fly to Chicago, he was wearing his familiar dark suit. But when Dole emerged from his chartered jet in Chicago, he had shed his power look altogether.

Later, however, Dole conceded to reporters aboard his plane that “it’ll take more than one day” to redefine himself as a commoner.

He nonetheless made a considerable effort in that direction.

While en route back to Midway Airport from his downtown speech, Dole made an impromptu stop at Berghoff’s, a popular German restaurant.

There, he greeted a packed house of diners, who seemed surprised but delighted to see him. One patron called out: “Hello, senator.” Dole shot back: “Ex-senator.”

Moving through the crowd, Dole at one point snatched a French fry off a woman’s plate. She laughed.

“Feels great,” Dole said before leaving the restaurant. “Everyone’s saying: ‘You did the right thing. Courageous.’ ”

Dole was accompanied here by New Hampshire Gov. Steve Merrill, his campaign’s national co-chairman. Upon arrival, they were greeted by Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar, whose staff assembled the hastily arranged “Dole for President” rally at a large hotel ballroom downtown.

Before launching into his formal remarks, Dole recalled his many visits to Chicago--including at least seven solely to undergo surgery to repair the war injuries he received in 1945. Dole, 72, then introduced the widow of Dr. Hampar Kelikian, the physician who performed those operations for free. They exchanged warm hugs.

Dole and his strategists viewed the Chicago rally as an important kickoff to what they hope is a fresh start for the campaign--after weeks of legislative setbacks for Dole in the Senate, a spot that Dole had hoped to exploit during the campaign to demonstrate his legislative skills.

“It’s very important to get out beyond the Beltway,” Nelson Warfield, Dole’s campaign spokesman, said Thursday.

In addition to the large press corps traveling with him, Dole’s rally was also covered by throngs of local print and broadcast reporters. A camera crew hired by the Dole campaign also was on hand, apparently to gather footage for potential use in ads and campaign videos.

All of that clearly cheered Dole aides. “This is an opportunity to cast the debate,” Warfield said.

Dole himself seemed cheered as well, telling reporters just before the flight back to Washington: “It was a good idea--go for broke.”