Women’s Group Gives Dole Respect, Not Passion

Elizabeth Hanford Dole brought her fleeting presidential hopes here Sunday to a highly influential GOP audience, one that would seem as sympathetic as any to her goal of making history by becoming America’s first female president: the National Federation of Republican Women.

But the response she received from the 2,100 Republican activists at the group’s 30th biennial convention was more respectable than impassioned--particularly compared with the star treatment showered on Republican front-runner George W. Bush two days earlier.

“Elizabeth Dole is a fine person, but not the person we need at this time,” said Mary Clare Anderka, a member of the federated women’s group from Petaluma, Calif. “This is not about getting a woman elected. It’s about getting the right person nominated, and winning. I think George W. can win, and I don’t think Liddy can.”

Dole’s visit once again demonstrated a continuing trend in the Republican primary as disparate GOP factions overlook their sympathetic favorites in the race and unite behind the one candidate they expect to have the best shot at the White House: Bush.

Recent opinion polls reflect the same feelings illustrated at the federated women’s convention. Dole joins all of the other GOP candidates in trailing Bush by at least 40 points. But most significantly for Dole, the surveys show women react to her campaign the same as men.

“We have the smallest gender gap of any candidate,” said Dole’s media director, David Manns.

If there was a gender gap, this is where it would show up. The federation is the nation’s largest women’s political organization, utilizing its 100,000 members in 2,000 clubs across the country to spread information on Republican positions and elect GOP candidates.

Born in part from the women’s suffrage movement--three states had yet to ratify the 19th Amendment when it was founded in 1938--the group has also, naturally, been a vehicle for women to express their views on the GOP’s direction. The national federation does not endorse candidates or positions, but many of the state and local chapters do.

At the moment, the issues of greatest concern to Republican women are affordable child and elder care, nursing home and health care reform, defense spending, and taxes, said the federation’s president, Mary Jo Arndt of Illinois.

“Republican women really want to feel that the candidate that heads our ticket in 2000 has a campaign of inclusion and compassion, a return to the ‘big tent,’ ” she said.

Sunday, in her folksy, low-key speech, Dole briefly recounted the advances of other women in the world of business and politics, and drew mild applause with proposals such as filtering the Internet sites accessible by students in schools.

But she seemed unsure how to raise the gender issue in her own campaign. Her staff placed leaflets on every chair, calling on the women to “Let’s Make History!” And she boasted that her campaign has brought more women into the political process, noting that 50% of her contributions are from women--nearly twice the average.

But she was also ambivalent when asked by reporters whether she was making special efforts to attract female voters.

“My base is really men and women, people who are energetic and enthused and ready to work,” Dole said. “ . . . But also many women who want to make history.”

Dole’s performance was dramatically overshadowed by that of Bush. The Texas governor kicked off the convention Friday night with a powerful flash of charisma, warming up with tales of his popular mother, Barbara, drawing loud applause with pledges to improve education and the military, then literally winking and blowing kisses to the ballroom of middle-aged women as he triumphantly exited the stage.

“I believe that the education oligopoly has little incentive to reform itself. That’s why I believe so strongly in charter [schools] and choice to challenge the status quo,” Bush said. “The parents get to choose whatever works, whatever offers hope.”

Many women at the three-day conference, which featured leadership training seminars and forums on grass-roots organizing, shared similar thoughts when questioned about Dole: They admired her resolve and considered her a trailblazer, but not a serious contender in 2000.

“I like Elizabeth Dole, but I don’t think she’s the right person at this time,” said Vonnie Hull of Ohio. “There will be a woman president soon--I am sure of that. But I don’t think it will be her. I am for Bush all the way.”

Dole is scheduled to formally announce her candidacy Nov. 7, although she already faces doubts that she will be in the race for long. Regardless of the outcome, Arndt is glad that she is a candidate.

“I am so proud of Elizabeth Dole,” she said. “I think it’s very important for Republican women to support Elizabeth Dole financially, whether they plan on voting for her or not. She is reaching out to independents, businesswomen, people that we need in our party to recapture the White House.”