Dole Blasts Clinton Silence on Funds

Vigorously pursuing a theme Republican strategists believe is striking a chord with voters, GOP nominee Bob Dole renewed his attack on Democratic Party fund-raising improprieties Saturday, charging that President Clinton’s silence amounts to an admission he was involved in soliciting illegal contributions.

Dole also argued that the donations, which came from foreign businesses and individuals, are large enough to “substantially influence” the election. “The president’s silence on these issues of public trust is a form of admission.”

In the view of Dole strategists, news accounts of the illegal and other questionable contributions, which were solicited by the Democratic National Committee, have provided the candidate with a current, highly publicized issue that amplifies a charge he has made throughout the campaign, with little apparent result. Dole has long accused the Clinton administration of dishonesty, but public opinion polls suggested the strategy was not swaying voters--at least in part because they either knew little about the examples he cited or did not find them important.

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Dole returned to the topic repeatedly Saturday. “The ethical vacuum at the heart of this administration has been filled by foreign political money. They have compromised the respect of Americans for their most basic institution.”

As he has throughout the campaign, Dole attempted to link such matters of ethics to Clinton’s personal history. At a rally in the small, solidly Republican town of Somerset, Ky., Dole said Clinton “has been AWOL in the war on drugs,” and he then quipped: “Of course, he’s been AWOL before,” alluding to Clinton’s avoidance of military service during the Vietnam War.

The comment drew a response from one supporter who chatted with Dole as the candidate shook hands and greeted supporters.

“I have more than 58,000 reasons not to vote for Bill Clinton,” said Chuck Little, 48, who was wearing a beret with the words “Vietnam Veterans of America.” He was referring to the number of Americans killed in Vietnam.

In his other campaign stop Saturday, Dole told an enthusiastic crowd at a waterfront rally in the Navy town of Norfolk, Va., that he would increase military pay if elected. “If you’re in uniform, you’ll be paid enough to pay your bills,” Dole said to cheers.

The candidate similarly touched on a popular local issue in his Kentucky appearance: tobacco. Reading aloud a sign in the crowd that read: “Farmers are not drug dealers,” Dole added: “I agree with that too.”

Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.), who introduced Dole at the morning rally, had accused Clinton of shirking his duties in the war on drugs while he “declared war on the poor tobacco farmers of Kentucky.”

Dole opposes a Clinton administration effort to regulate tobacco as a drug, and has said he does not believe nicotine is addictive.

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Despite Dole’s emphasis on the illegal campaign contributions, supporters interviewed Saturday in Somerset had mixed views about whether it is important.

“I don’t listen to a whole lot of it,” said Jeanette Lewis, 55, who works part time in a school kitchen. “I figure both sides use that kind of rhetoric. I don’t have any way of knowing if it’s true.”

Kimberly Stidham, 31, a legal secretary, said: “Bob Dole’s running on a ticket of honesty and integrity, so he should bring up these issues.”

Both of Dole’s appearances Saturday were in staunchly Republican communities, and the Clinton campaign in Kentucky scoffed at the itinerary 2 1/2 weeks before the election.

“Something is terribly wrong with the Dole campaign,” said Don Sweitzer, the Kentucky state campaign director for Clinton-Gore. “First Dole goes to Kansas, where he’s been three times already this year, then he goes to the heart of the GOP base in Kentucky. And then he goes to Norfolk, Va., one of the most solid Republican presidential strongholds in the country.”

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The Dole camp shrugged off the criticism.

“We need to turn out our base,” said Nelson Warfield, Dole’s spokesman. “Look at the ’94 results. We won because our base turned out. . . . If these ethical scandals continue and Clinton continues to zig to the left and zig to the right, the Democratic base will be all confused and will not vote.”

Although Kentucky and Virginia traditionally vote GOP in presidential elections, Clinton narrowly won Kentucky four years ago and polls show him leading Dole in both states.

During the rally in Kentucky, Dole said it was not clear how many millions of dollars Democrats have raised improperly, but he indicated that his attacks have not been for naught.

“The stone wall is beginning to tumble. The Democrats admitted yesterday, ‘Well, we better reimburse that Buddhist temple,’ ” he said. Dole was referring to a fund-raiser in April at a Buddhist temple in Hacienda Heights, Calif., where the national committee raised $140,000 but initially failed to reimburse the temple for the $15,000 it spent on the event.