Thread: Democrats target Dole in North Carolina

Sunday, October 7, 2007
Democrats say Dole is target, but they haven't found a taker

By GARY D. ROBERTSON
Associated Press Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. - There are plenty of Democrats who think North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole is an easy target.

They'll tell you Dole is too closely linked to President Bush on the Iraq war. That as her party's chief fundraiser in the Senate, she failed last year to raise enough money to keep the GOP in control. And that she's just as likely to be in her Watergate apartment on the weekends as she is to be visiting with constituents back home.

"A lot of people have seen her as something of an absentee senator," said Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "You add all of those together and she's put herself in a tough position for next year."

But if that's the case, why is the party still looking for a big-name candidate to take her on?

Outgoing Gov. Mike Easley says he's not interested in the Senate. Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and Treasurer Richard Moore both want to succeed Easley. Attorney General Roy Cooper wants to keep his current gig. U.S. Rep. Brad Miller likes his increased stature in the Democratic-led House.

On a blog post last year, Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Meek asked for possible Dole challengers. Democratic activists have talked up both Easley's wife, Mary, and retired North Carolina men's basketball coach Dean Smith.

The only candidate in the race so far is Jim Neal, a fundraiser for 2004 presidential candidates who has never run for public office.

Neal said last Thursday he has formed an exploratory committee and has been out raising money. He filed his statement of candidacy with the U.S. Senate last Thursday afternoon, according to a spokeswoman. Otherwise, there have been no takers among the state's established political class.

"That's telling me that there are some numbers out there that don't bode well for the Democrats," said Hunter Bacot, a political science professor at Elon University and one of the state's better known public pollsters.

And so, while the Democrats hunt for a candidate with the ability to raise the $1 million a month it will take to build the kind of name recognition need to challenge Dole, the state's senior senator is keeping busy: focusing on illegal immigration, helping laid-off textile and furniture workers, and the proposed Navy jet practice landing field in eastern North Carolina.

"I'm not worried about why I don't have an opponent. I certainly expect to have one," the 71-year-old Dole said. "This will be an active race. ... I'm just worried about what I can do today (for) my fellow North Carolinians."

Dole ascended into North Carolina history in 2002 as the state's first female U.S. senator, soundly beating Erskine Bowles, former President Clinton's chief of staff. After spending most of her adult life in Washington's power circles, the Salisbury native wowed North Carolina crowds as the local girl made good.

Her stage presence, honed during husband Bob Dole's 1996 presidential run and her own short-lived presidential campaign in 1999, gave her a rock-star persona. She also won the support of "Jessecrats," eastern North Carolina Democrats who voted Republican for 30 years to back Sen. Jesse Helms, who helped by giving Dole the thumbs up as his successor.

Dole has generally stayed clear of social issues that made Helms the favorite of conservatives, preferring at first to focus on the constituency services that made Helms just as popular.

Dole raised her legislative profile by helping secure passage of the 2004 tobacco quota buyout, which will inject billions of dollars into North Carolina's economy. North Carolina will also become home to more troops, not less, after the latest round of Pentagon base closings.

"I've learned and accomplished a lot," Dole said. "Obviously, there are many more things I want to do."

But as head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2006, she was panned for poor fundraising and a disaster at the polls, where Republicans lost six seats and control of the chamber for the first time in a dozen years. Democrats also argue she is too closely aligned with Bush, whose handling of the Iraq war is opposed by 65 percent of North Carolina residents polled last week.

"She's part and parcel of the policy that got us in the mess in Iraq," said Gary Pearce, a longtime state Democratic consultant. "She has to defend her record."

Dole has tried to separate herself slightly from Bush on Iraq in recent months. She co-sponsored legislation that would require Bush to change the mission of U.S. troops in Iraq to largely a support role, completing the transition by the end of next year.

"There's absolutely no question that mistakes have been made," said Dole, citing the disbanding of the Iraqi army as one. "There was a lack of understanding about what the ramifications would be."

A potential foil on the war could be state Rep. Grier Martin, a Raleigh attorney and Army reservist who served in Afghanistan.

"Certainly anyone challenging Sen. Dole would be prudent to get started sooner rather than later," said Martin, who is nearly half Dole's age, with movie-star looks and a liberal streak on social issues.

State Sen. Kay Hagan of Greensboro, a leading budget-writer at the state capitol, said she is also weighing a bid. She is viewed as a good fundraiser who could temper Dole's advantages as a female candidate.

Polls have put Dole's job approval rating at anywhere between the 40s and the 60s. An Elon poll last week put Dole at 50 percent, with 25 percent who disapproved.

"Here's the real question about her polls: Is it really strong and deeply held opinions about her or are those feelings somewhat fragile?" said Pearce, whose former clients include John Edwards, a largely unknown trial attorney who upset incumbent GOP Sen. Lauch Faircloth in 1998.

With several GOP senators retiring and anti-war sentiment high in other states where GOP incumbents face re-election, Democrats are heady entering the 2008 campaign season. But it's unclear if Dole fits in the group of GOP senators at risk.

"The vulnerability is not all that obvious to me," said Jennifer Duffy, an analyst for the Cook Political Report. "I don't think she's made any great mistakes. I don't think she's angered the base. She's still something of an icon."

Dole appeared brittle after last year's Senate losses and hip replacement surgery, leading to questions whether she would seek a second term.

But after a summer spent meeting with local sheriffs on immigration enforcement and vacationing in western North Carolina with her husband, Dole sounds rejuvenated for the fight ahead: "I think people will judge me on my record ultimately and that's what I'm proudly running on."
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satel ... 7645509099

We should support Senator Dole in any way that we can. She has been very strong against illegal immigration, and we def need her to stay in the Senate.


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Call the Senate: NO AgJOBS Amnesty !