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| BOWING OUT | |
 October 20, 1999 
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Elizabeth Dole pulled out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, saying she did not have enough money to compete with the other candidates. Political commentators discuss her decision after these excerpts from her departure announcement.
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But this is not all that I've learned. I've learned that the current political calendar and election laws favor those who get an early start, and can tap into huge private fortunes, or who have a preexisting network of political supporters. Steve Forbes has unlimited resources. Governor Bush has raised over $60 million and has about $40 million on hand. Both are starting to run TV ads next week. Already, I've attended over 70 fund-raising events. My schedule through early December would have taken me to a total of 108 fund-raising events across America. Even then, these rivals would enjoy a 75- or 80-1 cash advantage. Perhaps I could handle 2-1 or even 10-1, but not 80-1. When I arrived home, I told Bob that this time the odds are overwhelming. It would be futile to continue, and he reluctantly agreed. God willing, there are many arenas in which to fight, many ways to contribute. So while I may not be a candidate for the presidency in 2000, I'm a long way from the twilight. (Laughter) Thank you all. (Applause) One more sentence! Thank you all, everyone here, for your friendship, your encouragement, and above all, your willingness to dare mighty things. God bless each and every one of you and God bless America. Thank you for joining me this morning. (Applause)
ELIZABETH DOLE: George Bush, I think it's fair to say, really began his efforts in 1996, and he quietly but effectively pulled in all of the traditional money-raisers in the Republican Party, a lot of the endorsements. I was in a non-partisan organization, the American Red Cross. It was a mission field for me. I believed in following the fundamental principles of the Red Cross, and I did not make a call to Iowa, New Hampshire, until I left the Red Cross. So literally, my campaign was beginning about February 1st. The endorsements were gone by that point, but I think clearly here you have a situation, it's a phenomenon. It's never happened before in politics, it may never happen again, where you have a person who has ... there's a vast political network of supporters, and this goes back through the years, plus I think certainly being a governor, a sitting governor, a brother who's a sitting governor, you've got a lot of the governors with their vast state organizations involved. And so it really ... I don't think, you know, anyone could have anticipated, at the time that I left the Red Cross, that there would be that sort of most unusual phenomenon which has occurred. |
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ELIZABETH
DOLE: I've tried to run a nontraditional campaign rather than a traditional
one, bringing countless first-time voters into the political process,
as we have sought, together, to make history. It's confusing to many
Americans who are part of my huge crowds and share my enthusiasm that
this is not a measure of success. 
All
my life I've been accustomed to challenging the odds, but the first
obligation of any candidate is to be honest-- honest with herself and
honest with her supporters. Last Sunday, the five-hour flight from Seattle
gave me an opportunity to do some hard thinking. I thought about the
rumor I had had to answer for two weeks that I was dropping out and
the damage it had done to my fund-raising. I thought a lot, if there
was any other avenue not yet explored for raising money. 
REPORTER:
What do you think it says about the Republican Party, that it could
not or did not support the number two-ranked person in the race? 
