Bob Dole Suggests Bush’s Lead in GOP Race May Be Insurmountable

Bob Dole got in hot water this year when he questioned whether his wife, GOP presidential hopeful Elizabeth Hanford Dole, could raise enough money to be viable in the 2000 race. Now, it seems, he’s at it again.

The former Kansas senator, in Wednesday’s Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, said the lead that Texas Gov. George W. Bush holds over his rivals for the GOP nomination might be insurmountable.

“No one anticipated this much of a spread,” the 1996 GOP presidential nominee told the paper, while saying the situation could change quickly: “One day can be a lifetime in politics.”

Dole also said his wife is having trouble raising funds and that he is not sure how long she would be in the campaign. “I am counting on her to go further,” he said. “We’ll just have to wait to see what develops.”

Dole’s remarks came after a second press aide to Elizabeth Dole quit her campaign. Press secretary Michael Paranzino submitted his resignation for personal reasons shortly after the Aug. 14 Iowa straw poll and left last week, said communications director Ari Fleischer.

Fleischer announced his own resignation late last week but said he did not mention Paranzino’s departure at the same time because “I didn’t think it rose to the level of news.”