Online NewsHour: Former Senator Bob Dole -- August 2, 2000



	FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE

August 2, 2000

Gwen Ifill leads a discussion about the "new Republican Party" with former Senator and 1996 presidential candidate Bob Dole.

Online NewsHour Special Reports:
GOP Convention 2000

Text of the 2000 GOP Platform

Election 2000

Media coverage has a new look

Browse the NewsHour's coverage of politics

GWEN IFILL: Jim, I'm down here as you just mentioned with Senator Bob Dole who of course four years ago was the nominee of this party. So, how different does it feel now?

FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE: Well, it's a lot different. When you are the nominee, you are secluded; you're locked up; you're working on your speech. Now I'm out here saying hello to people, and meeting a lot of friends and having a good time. Of course, I, you know, would have rather won the election, but I didn't, so this is another convention. Everyone gets better and more exciting for us.

A convention without conflict

Bob Dole GWEN IFILL: And you could have been a first spouse of this convention too.

FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE: Pardon?

GWEN IFILL: You could have been a first spouse -- sitting in that box.

FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE: That's right. I might have been. In any event, I think that we've got a good ticket, a good solid ticket. You know, there's not much commotion, not much conflict. Maybe it is not such a good convention for the media, but I think for us it's good.

GWEN IFILL: Let's talk about the lack of conflict. We do pick up that some people are basically suppressing any unhappiness they might have in the name of party unity. Is that possible?

FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE: Well, maybe I contributed. I took a lot of flak in '96, and maybe they decided you can't win that way. Some of the people were after me -- when you're out there trying to broaden the party and make it inclusive. We're not going to win if we don't have an inclusive party. And it is about time we realized that and I think we do now. I think Governor Bush is making a great effort.

GOP outreach

GWEN IFILL: When you say can't win that way, what way is that?

FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE: Well, you can't get a majority. If you can't bring in more people in -- more blacks, more Hispanics, Asians, more women - I mean, the issues of abortions and guns in '96, plus we had Buchanan, of course, we had Bill Clinton, who's very good and we had Newt Gingrich, who's very polarizing, even though he's a friend of mine. Let's face it - he doesn't have any of those things this year, the governor doesn't.

GWEN IFILL: Is it day and night this year?

FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE: It is great to have Buchanan gone.

GWEN IFILL: Well, he's still going to have a convention. He may still make trouble.

FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE: I don't think much. I think his time has come and gone.

GWEN IFILL: We were talking to a couple of self described middle of the road Republicans, moderate Republicans who feel like they have taken their party back at this convention. What do you think that means?

FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE: Well, I don't know about that. I think that they have someone who understands that we have an inclusive party. You are not going to win every issue, I don't care where you are on the political spectrum. But we need to recognize that we are the conservative party. But that doesn't mean that you are the ideological right wing party, it means that you are conservative on fiscal issues and you can be pro life, pro-choice and still be a good Republican.

Dole on Cheney

GWEN IFILL: So how is Dick Cheney? Let's start with him, it is his night tonight. How does he measure up as a vice presidential candidate?

FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE: I think he measures up. You go back and look at a voting record which is 20 years old, you can probably pick out a few votes. But any of us who have voting records - you know -- I was against Medicare but I was for Elder Care, which had drug benefits 30 years ago. I was ahead of my time. So Dick Cheney, you know, I have known him 25 years so I'm biased and prejudiced and I like him.

GWEN IFILL: You have been a vice presidential candidate; you've been a presidential candidate. How about the process in which the presidential candidate ended up picking his own guy to be the guy he put in charge of finding a vice president?

FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE: It means he's a pretty good chairman.

GWEN IFILL: Represented himself pretty well.

FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE: Make a good vice president too. But he will have to go out and I don't say take on in a nasty way but he'll have to go out and lay out the differences. That's the vice president's role. I remember in '76, I was called the hatchet man and that was pretty much the strategy. I would go out and President Ford would stay in the Rose Garden.

Dole on the Democrats

GWEN IFILL: There has been a lot of talk today about President Clinton and President George Bush's kind of spat that they have been having back and forth. What's going on with that?

FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE: I don't know. But I think that Clinton, leave us alone this week. This is a Republican week it and ought to be our week. And he ought to just be quiet and recognize that Al Gore has now taken over the party. It's going to be hard to get Clinton to leave the White House. I know he doesn't want to leave. But his term is about up. And he ought to start packing.

GWEN IFILL: Speaking of Al Gore, there has been hardly any mention of him at this convention. Has this party succeeded in defining itself as different from the Democratic Party?

FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE: I don't want to stand here and criticize Al Gore. I think he's a man of good character and good family and all these things. But I think he has some work to do. I think it is a likeability factor, and I think that George Bush has the edge.

GWEN IFILL: We've been -- Mark Shields and Paul Gigot and Jim Lehrer have been trying to decide what everyone has been talking about for the vice presidency on the Democratic side. Do you have any thoughts?

FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE: You know, if I were advising Gore, I would say pick Bob Kerrey.

GWEN IFILL: Are you trying to cause trouble here?

FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE: Well, Bob Kerrey is well qualified; he's liberal. But he's still has the capacity to reach out and work things out. And that's what we need. We need somebody to work things out in both parties. And he's a war hero, no question about it -- from the Midwest -- a lot of good things.

Some adivce to George W.

GWEN IFILL: You are uniquely qualified perhaps to answer this final question which we're asking everyone which is, what is the single thing that George W. Bush has to do between now in November in order to get elected?

FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE: I think he has to continue in sort of the same, you know, when you are ahead, you can be pretty upbeat, and he has to be upbeat and he's got to get ready for the debate.

GWEN IFILL: What does that mean?

FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE: That means he has got to be prepared because Al Gore will be prepared.

GWEN IFILL: Do you think Al Gore is a good debater?

FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE: Well, Al Gore has had a federal experience. If they debated Texas issues, Governor Bush would wipe him out. They're going to debate foreign policy and federal issues, and I think the governor has been fairly quick study, but he has a lot of work to do.

GWEN IFILL: So the governor has succeeded in broadening the party, but he has to work a little bit on broadening himself and his own experience?

FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE: Pardon?

GWEN IFILL: The governor has been successful in broadening the party but still has to work on broadening his own experience -

FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE: Well -

GWEN IFILL: I don't want to put words in your mouth of course.

FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE: No. I mean, he's just got to get ready. I mean, it is like, he hasn't been in Washington all his life as Al Gore. Al Gore was raised in the Fairfax Hotel - you know -- doesn't visit Tennessee very often. But Governor Bush will do all right.

GWEN IFILL: Okay.

FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE: Thank you.

GWEN IFILL: Senator Dole, thank you very much