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Back in the early 1970s when she was in the Nixon administration, Elizabeth Dole walked up to the doorman outside the males-only Metropolitan Club in Washington, introduced herself, and said she had a fourth-floor meeting with a group of lawyers from Cleveland.
``Lady, if your name were Queen Elizabeth, you're not getting into this club,'' the doorman snapped. Dole sent a male colleague to the meeting, a capable person who nonetheless wasn't nearly as prepared as Dole was.
And though she didn't say it, it's clear she believes the country is not only ready for its first woman president, it needs one. Dole speech could be campaign tune-up February 3, 1999 BY ALEX RODRIGUEZ Chicago Sun Times Staff Reporter.
And the country was ready, as you can see below, without the media blitz, she was an easy winner:
Dole holds a landslide 16-point lead over the First Lady - Dole would get 53.9 percent to 38.1 percent for Clinton, according to the nationwide Post Poll. The president would lose to both Republican front-runners - Elizabeth Dole and Texas Gov. George W. Bush - right now in hypothetical matchups. Dole would beat Bill Clinton by 53.4 to 38.5 percent, while Bush would beat the president by 51.3 to 42.0 percent.
The New Hampshire poll of "likely Republican primary voters" showed Dole leading with 27 percent and Bush close behind, within the survey's margin of error, at 23 percent. A similar item, Gore discounts poll favoring Bush, Dole Mar. 10, 1999 | 4:20 a.m. a poll of 1,203 adults released last month by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press showed 45 percent of registered voters surveyed said there was no chance they would vote for him. In that same poll, more than two-thirds said there was at least a chance they would vote for Bush, and nearly that many said they could vote for Mrs. Dole, the former American Red Cross chief and wife of 1996 GOP nominee Bob Dole. AP-CS-03-10-99 0508EST
However one has to wonder if the Republican Party was or will ever be ready? One can’t help but think that some of our best leaders and possible candidates could be welcomed at this club... but not fully. One wonders for instance if a Jew like New York Governor Pataki, or an Italian like the Mayor, or other women, or older men like Bob Dole, or younger men like Kasich or... will ever get the full support of the Republican Party in their quest for the presidency. As the campaign developed, Elizabeth’s polls started to slip:
Either Bush Or Dole Could Beat Gore, Poll Finds 1.31 a.m. ET (631 GMT) February 2, 1999 LOS ANGELES — Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Elizabeth Dole, retired head of the American Red Cross, would both beat Vice President Al Gore if presidential elections were held now, according to a poll published Monday.
Bush and Dole emerged as the Republican favorites of voters in the Los Angeles Times poll, even though neither have declared themselves as candidates.
Bush would take 57 percent of the votes to Gore's 39 percent while Dole would beat him by 50 percent to 42 percent, the poll said
We saw many articles like this one: One year before New Hampshire voters cast their ballots in the nations first presidential primary, Republicans are asking themselves the musical question: Is the GOP ready to put a woman on the ticket?
We saw many polls like this one still on at the Christian Science Monitor, Would you vote for a qualified woman for president? Better than 91% said they would. Most of the response was positive, many like this poll. See another of these polls at the National Federation of Republican Women, Elizabeth leads George by 5% points. Every site on the internet had one of these polls, not excluding BBC Talking Point, Is It Time for a Female US President?. I guess the British knew things we don’t. Only 47% said we would elect a female to the presidency.
And for all the static, one cannot really see Hillary managing that. If Mrs. Dole couldn’t do it, it seems ladies will not attain the honor in the immediate future. Just look at these statistics: “Dole has 97 percent name recognition among Republican voters in the state and a lofty favorability rating of 71 percent. Will she or won't she? It's the question bringing 1,200 curious folks - a sellout crowd, the largest ever - to the annual Chamber of Commerce dinner in Manchester, N.H., tonight, when Republican Elizabeth Dole gives the keynote speech and, maybe, a signal that she is going to run for president.”
Also a person with a proven track record raising funds: “Overall, however, it was a successful effort. The 9 percent increase in public donations that Mrs. Dole achieved translated to a total of $567 million last year.” While working for the Red Cross. International Herald Tribune.
There were many comments like these: “If the primary were held today, there is no question Elizabeth Dole would win,'' said Earl Cox, head of a ''Draft Dole'' committee who has crisscrossed the state several times on her behalf.
Dole: Liddy Qualified For President - (TOPEKA) -- Former Senator Bob Dole says his wife is qualified to be president. Talking after a speech on Saturday, Dole said there is NO reason why a woman should NOT be elected to lead the nation. There are a number of efforts around the country to draft Elizabeth Dole to run for the Republican presidential nomination in the year 2000. She is expected to decide whether to run in the next month. Yahoo News.
I’ve come to realize that Mrs. Dole’s campaign speeches were often not heard, rather than misunderstood. Some times the things she speaks about sound dated... But underlying all of these remarks one can hear some basic truths, rarely out of the mouths of politicians. Updated: Friday, Feb. 12, 1999 at 22:24 CST Elizabeth Dole frowns on `toxic culture' in U.S. By Jay Root Star-Telegram Austin bureau HOUSTON -- With only teasing references to her political future and not a word about the impeachment trial, Elizabeth Dole warned yesterday of a "toxic culture" that is polluting the minds of children and undermining traditional family values.
"Violence and obscenity have become prerequisites for entertaining us," said Dole, who was in Texas for a charity fund-raiser. "Our popular culture coarsens rather than enlightens our souls in so many cases.”
"When she gets to the podium, you think there's going to be a skyrocket go off or something," said Marilyn Lummis of Houston, who said she could vote for Dole even if it meant voting against Gov. George W. Bush, who is considered the front-runner for the Republican nomination.
"Our popular culture coarsens rather than enlightens our souls in so many cases.” And who cares? We all like it. But what happens? We loose out. We as a nation, as the human race, have wonderful opportunities, afforded by science and technology in the near future. Imagine a future where everyone has enough, where there’s no envy, no hatreds... We also face dangers unlike any we experienced before. Radically new weapons, that we do not recognize, including some aspects of our popular culture. This are not silly words, this is a real warning about a danger we increasingly face.
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Is this the concensus of the Republican Party? "Speaking as a Republican, I want my party to let more people in," said the former U.S. senator and presidential candidate. "We don't have to agree with everybody. We ought to have diversity, not conformity. That's what America is all about.” Sen. Bob Dole
