Bob Dole's Skeleton Closet
Click on the allegation of your choice:
"When these political action committees give money, they expect something in return other than good government." -- Bob Dole, 1983 (before he got lots of PAC money)
"What is amazing is how young he looks for how old he is." -- Dole's first wife Phyllis Macey (who, at 71, is a year younger than Bob.)
"The Internet is a good tool to use to get on the Net." - Bob Dole, 1996
"I know there are California oranges and Florida oranges. When I'm in Florida, I like Florida oranges. Today, I think California oranges are the best, of course." -- Bob Dole, in California, 3/25/96
"The only place you see a free market is in the speeches of politicians. People who are not in the Midwest do not understand that this is a socialist country." -- Dwayne Andreas of Archer Daniels Midland, one of Dole's biggest contributors
"Bob Dole is the tax collector for the welfare state." -- Newt Gingrich, 1983.
“Bob waits to see which way the wind is blowing. … There’s always a question: Does he have a vision? You won’t see him creating an agenda.” – Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, R-Kansas (Doles 1980 campaign co-chairman)
Campaign Dirty Tricks: Fraudulent Attack "Polls"
The Wall Street Journal has confirmed allegations that Dole's campaign used phony "push" polls to smear the his
opponents, and paid over $1 million to just one firm -- Campaign Tel -- that does this.
Worse yet, Bob Dole flat out lied about this when asked about this in February. When the Forbes campaign complained about these "polls", Dole said "We're not making any phone calls." But now his spokeswoman Christina Martin says the calls just "mirrored our television commercials" (which is also untrue) and Campaign Tel issued a statement saying, "The message of our calls has been consistent with the Dole campaign's paid advertising program." Dole financial reports confirm that they have paid Campaign Tel over $1 million already.
Among other things, the "pollsters" accused Gramm and Alexander of dirty campaign tricks, and attacked Forbes' flat tax. Callers told people that "the Iowa Farm Bureau had passed a resolution opposing the Forbes flat tax" -- which is a lie -- and claimed to represent either the bureau or "Iowa Farm Families". There is no such group, and the New York-based Campaign Tel company's employees had no connection with Iowa farms, of course. Campaign Tel's phony polls have also been used by candidates for governor in Illinois and Florida, both by Republicans and Democrats.
-- Back to the top -- Sources
Money Laundering of Illegal Campaign Contributions
For decades, Bob Dole's campaigns have consistently been caught blatantly laundering campaign contributions, usually by having a corporation reimburse employees and their family members for their donations. Dole always denies personal involvement, but no other candidate has such a steady history of this, and no other candidate raises more money from corporations, by hook or by crook, than Bob Dole. Examples include Aqua-Leisure Industries and Empire Sanitary Landfill this year; several campaign violations in 1988 including contribution laundering at Birdview Satellite Communications, a 20 year old investigation of illegal donations to Dole by Gulf Oil company which fizzled after key evidence disappeared, and even 25 year old scandals involving illegal donations to the Nixon Administration by milk producers and a branch of International Telephone and Telegraph. Dole was chairman of the Republican National Committee, which received both donations, and was directly implicated in both deals. Bob has managed to avoid indictment or even a consensus among reporters that he did anything illegal, through all of these scandals, but you don't need heavy pattern recognition skills figure out how he does business.
The latest case involves Aqua-Leisure Industries, a sporting goods company whose chairman (Simon Fireman) is also the Dole campaign's national vice-chairman of finance. Fireman just plead guilty to laundering contributions to Dole by handing out envelopes with $1000 in cash to employees, so they could make contributions beyond what Fireman was allowed to give. He was fined $1 million, his company was fined $5 million, and he got 6 months of house arrest in lieu of jail time because he cooperated with authorities. We don't have room to share all of the gory details, but the Kansas City Star's excellent investigative series absolutely nails this illegal scheme. Check their articles out
At least three of the 40 employees or relatives who contributed say that the company's executive assistant handed some workers stacks of $100 bills so they could return with checks made out to "Dole For President." The workers' bank statements show cash deposits equal to their donations, on the same day.
14 of the 35 employees gave $1000 or $2000. $1000 donations were received even from low paid employees such as a secretary, a bookkeeper, and a warehouse foreman. 5 of the donators even said they were Democrats or favored Clinton over Dole.
This is NOT an isolated incident. Last year, 50 donations of $1000 each came from workers and families of Empire Sanitary Landfill, a Pennsylvania company whose principal owners are under indictment for tax fraud. All 50 donations were made the same day -- May 3, 1995 -- a week before Dole brought a bill to the Senate floor that preserved the company's ability to import trash from other states. (The bill passed the Senate overwhelmingly but failed in the House.) Unlike Aqua Leisure, none of the employees interviewed has admitted that they were reimbursed, but low- level employees including a secretary, a cook, an account clerk and a purchaser all gave $1,000.
In 1988, the FEC found that several executives at Birdview Satellite Communications and their wives were reimbursed for contributions to Dole's Senate campaign. Dole's campaign was not fined, but Dave Owen, long time Dole associate who was Dole's top fund-raiser in his 1988 presidential race, was fined. Dole immediately dumped Owen and blamed him for the problems. Dole said "I don't have a problem. Dave Owen has a problem." Similarly, when the Aqua-Leisure allegation surfaced, Dole said "If somebody did that, they're in deep trouble."
Dole's 1988 presidential campaign was fined $100,000 -- the most ever, at that time -- for other violations, including accepting illegal corporate contributions.
The Gulf Oil contributions were revealed by a company lobbyists who plead guilty in the Watergate scandal, and named Dole in two separate scams. One involved money given to him to redistribute to Republican candidates; the other was a direct contribution to Dole's reelection campaign. The Watergate special prosecutor called Bob before a grand jury, where he denied doing anything wrong. The lobbyist made one charge under oath and stuck to it. He made the other charge in the press, then recanted without explanation days later. Dole was not indicted -- a few thousand in campaign donations was pretty small potatoes at the end of the Watergate era.
One reason that Dole was not indicted was that key evidence disappeared. A book recording cash contributions to campaign was subpoenaed -- and showed up with the first ten pages removed, and the year's donations beginning on April 17th. The alleged direct, illegal contribution would have taken place earlier in the year, but Dole's fundraiser Jo-Anne Coe (who is still Dole's chief fundraiser) said there weren't any contributions on the missing pages. The pages were missing, she said, because she made a mistake, tore out the page and threw it away. Even though there was a note in the book saying that contribution listings began on page 9, investigators were unable to conclusively prove wrongdoing.
Bob Dole was involved with illegal campaign contributions as far back as 1971. He was accused of pressuring the White House to accept $2 million in secret donations from the milk industry in return for higher price supports for milk. White House internal memos from H.R. Haldeman to Charles Colson, dated February 1971, showed that dairymen had pushed Dole (then Republican National Chairman) to lobby the White House. Dole's office conceded he had made "a few appeals" to the White House, and Nixon had in fact reversed a ruling against the subsidy increase at a secret White House meeting.
Dole was also involved in an illegal contribution of $400,000 by IT&T to the Republican National Party, which he headed at that time. The donation was both to bring the Republican Convention to San Diego, where IT&T was building a hotel, and to influence the Nixon Administration to make a favorable decision in a pending antitrust divestiture case. The antitrust matter was settled in IT&T's favor, while the convention was set for San Diego at first but later moved to Miami. Dole denied knowing about the contribution when he ran for re-election in 1974, but two of his aides testified that they told him about it. On another occasion he admitted knowing about the donation, but denied any tie to the antitrust case. -- Back to the top -- Sources
Ruthlessness is a long-standing issue with Bob Dole. Candidates for president are often judged on whether they have "fire in the belly", the overwhelming desire to win the presidency, which is presumably needed to get through all the BS, mudslinging, fundraising, media circuses, etc. Bob Dole has a blast furnace in his belly, and every ounce of his impressive willpower is directed to that goal.
The more important question is, has his desire overwhelmed the rest of his humanity? The desire for power is rarely seen more nakedly or purely than in Bob Dole (and his wife Elizabeth), and it is an interesting and scary exercise to wonder what Dole would do with the huge reservoir we give to Presidents. He does not seem to be an ideologue, or to have huge, history-changing goals. Would he simply relish his achievement, or should we fear where he ego would roam once his lifetime goal and fixation has been reached?
At various stages of his political career, he has shown no sign of conscience about attacking his opponents with every kind of vicious attack, at least in campaign. Dole was picked by Ford as his vice-presidential candidate (replacing Nelson Rockefeller, who actually served as Ford's VP) precisely to serve as his attack dog, and Dole played that role with obvious relish.
In his difficult 1974 campaign for re-election to Congress, he won in large part with attacks on his opponent for having performed abortions. The man, an obstetrician, had delivered thousands of babies and had performed a handful of therapeutic abortions over the years -- hideously deformed fetuses, illnesses where the mother would have died, etc. Dole slammed his opponent for this, asking high school students to "ask your parents if they know how many abortions [his opponent] has performed".Flyers with photos of fetuses in trash can were placed on cars in Catholic neighborhoods right before the vote. Dole denied any responsibility, and narrowly won re-election (with a heavy majority in those Catholic neighborhoods.) -- Back to the top
Lack of Loyalty
Another example is the way he turned his back on
Dave Owen, a campaign official and friend of his and Elizabeth Dole's for decades, when it served to help Dole's
1988 re-election campaign. Owen saved Dole's career in 1974, coming in late to take over as his campaign
chairman and engineering his narrow comeback. In 1988, when Dole ran a close
race with George Bush for the Republican presidential nomination, Owen was his campaign finance chairman
and helped raise an impressive amount of money. Owen estimates he has raised $10 million for Bob Dole over
the years.
Dave Owen also served as the manager of Elizabeth Dole's money, and in the middle of the 1988 campaign the press started to attack some of the complicated deals Owen had set up for Liddy, pointing to some potential (though somewhat vague) conflicts of interest. Dole started feeling the heat, and his campaign threw Owen to the wolves. Worse yet, Dole wouldn't even talk to the man -- he had Elizabeth deliver the bad news, as he often does. Owen ended up serving a year-and-a-day sentence for income tax fraud for not reporting a payment from the son of legendary football coach Bear Bryant (who was looking for help in getting government approval of a racetrack.) The payment was only noticed by the IRS because of the misdemeanor state political finance charges that Dole left him to face alone. Republican prosecutors in Kansas went after Owen with a vengenance, and in that state, Dole controls the Republican machine tightly. Some have suggested Dole went after Owen because Dole felt the scandal cost him the nomination in 1988, or because Owen didn't quietly fall on his sword.
The case is not cut and dried by any measure, but there is no doubt that Dole abandoned his old friend in the heat of the campaign. Owens, who just got out of prison, is naturally bitter and thinks support from Dole would have kept him a free man. Dole said at the time "There's nothing there. Dave Owen may have a problem, but that's his problem."
Loyalty is not a simple, good-or-bad issue. Consider the contrast with Bill Clinton. When Clinton was elected, he followed the advice that every small town kid gets when moving off to the big city: "Don't forget your friends back home. Remember who got you where you are." He brought along a number of minor league talents from Arkansas, ranging from sleazy good old boys like Web Hubbell to quiet underachievers like Mac McLarty and people tragically over their heads, such as Vince Foster. Loyalty is hard to attack, but in Clinton's case it blinded him to the inadequacies of his friends and crippled his administration for years. And you don't have too many years to spare in a presidential administration.
Dole is unlikely to have that problem. Perhaps ruthlessness is a trait better suited to the leader of the free world; Clinton certainly has given up on his old friends, for the most part. But it always rubs wrong, a little bit. Dangerous loyalty, or ruthless efficiency? Take your pick.
-- Back to the top -- Sources
The most common -- and unfair -- press criticism of Dole is for his temper. Nearly every feature on the guy repeats two statements he made in the heat of elections; a rant in the 1976 vice presidential debate about how Vietnam, WWII and WWI were "Democrat wars", and telling a newsman to "Tell him (George Bush) to stop lying about my record." We say, BFD.
In context, neither statement is that remarkable, even the Democrat wars bit. Keep in mind that in 1976, Dole as a Republican had been taking heat for 8 years about Vietnam, a war that certainly was largely the legacy of John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. No doubt a touch of bitterness over his severe wounds in WWII fed his anger, too - can you blame him? And George Bush will go down in history as one of the nastiest and least honest presidential campaigners, especially in that 1988 campaign (with Willie Horton, "read my lips, no new taxes", etc.)
Actually, these criticisms say more about what is wrong with the press than what is wrong with Dole. Everyone running for president has been building their character and skills for decades to be able to handle the most powerful job in the world. And yet the press acts as if the events that take place during the campaign -- meaning, in front of them at press conferences and debates -- are more important than everything else in the candidates' lives. Obviously, that's an absurd thought, but no one in the press even questions it -- at best, they defend it by saying that the pressure of a campaign is a good dry run for the pressure of running America.
Bought and Sold: Political Favors for Big Campaign
Contributors
The biggest scandal of Dole's political career is his consistent and intense pattern of doing political favors for big political contributors. Bob Dole is a genius of money-grubbing, raking in $500,000 a week last year, even before this presidential campaign began in earnest. He raised the legal limit of $37.5 million in campaign contributions by March of this primary year.
Beyond direct contributions, he has worked out several hidden ways get money from special interests: free or low-cost flights on corporate jets, contributions to foundations, PACs and charities he controls, a sweetheart deal on a luxury condo, and money given to his wife Elizabeth -- and her charities. When Senators were allowed to receive payments for giving speeches, Dole spoke often and very profitably. That was banned, so now Elizabeth now speaks to many of the same special interests and lobbying groups Dole spoke to. Her speeches -- worth $875,000 over the last 3 years -- erupted into scandal when her promise to donate the money to charity was proven phony.
Who gives Bob Dole all this money? A bunch of special interests who seek -- and get -- political favors from Dole. Mr. Family Values gets tons of money from booze, gambling and tobacco money, such as the Gallo Winery family and US Tobacco.Other major benefactors include Koch Industries, a family owned Kansas oil company whose owners are worth $4.7 BILLION; Carl Lindner, a Cincinnati billionaire who controls Chiquita Bananas and American Financial Corporation; Fisher Brothers real estate, and several natural gas companies -- Arco, Amoco, Coastal and Enron -- who enjoyed a special tax break that Dole promoted, even though it hurt Kansas' independent natural gas producers. But you don't need to be a billionaire to get favors from Dole. Even an obscure rabbi from Brooklyn got millions of dollars in federal Agency for International Development money after Dole and his staff pushed hard for his proposal. All it took was $100,000 in contributions and some diligent work as a Dole fund-raiser.
Now granted, none of his opponents (who have ever held office) are in a position to criticize him, including President Clinton (whose fundraising success doesn't get much attention.) But that does not make Dole's money grubbing and favors for donors any better. And he does this far more often and blatantly than anyone else. Dole is so successful that Bill Clinton's two biggest Arkansas donors -- Tyson Foods and Stephens, Inc. Investments - have switched their funding to him.
-- Back to the top -- Sources
What has Dole received? Hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign money, plus dozens of flights on ADM's jets at little or no cost. Plus speaking fees, and large donations to Dole's special foundations set up to evade donation limits, including $100,000 to the Better America Foundation. Shortly after Elizabeth Dole took over the Red Cross, ADM gave a solid million dollars to the Red Cross, which certainly made her job easier. Plus, Bob and Liddy enjoy an exclusive luxury condo in Florida that Dwayne Andreas helped them get. And ADM gave $1,572,268 in "soft money" to the Republican Party. I'm sure Bob and Liddy have received more, but this much is clearly documented.
What has Archer Daniels received? Lots. Dole helped arrange and protect a $3.5 BILLION tax credit for ethanol (54 cents per gallon.) Archer Daniels makes 60% of this ethanol and receives $2 billion directly from this tax credit. (They also have given Clinton $270,000 and he has helped the company as well.) Dole's own office issued a press release last year calling him "Senator Ethanol." In 1990, Dole held a trade bill hostage until the House agreed to extend the ethanol tax credit, and put duties on imported ethanol. In 1991, Dole added an amendment to a highway bill making it harder for refiners to supply methanol, the chief competitor of ethanol. In 1993, he pushed the Bush Administration into issuing new regulations that increased the role of ethanol in government clean air programs.
Dole has defended his role in ethanol by saying it helps Kansas farmers, who produce a lot of corn, and the press has generally bought this argument. But ethanol accounts for a tiny percentage of corn use, and many economists doubt that the ethanol program has any effect on corn prices at all.
Besides ethanol, Dole has delivered a lot to ADM. He used his considerable clout to protect price supports on sugar, which make ADM's competitive product -- corn syrup --more profitable. He got ADM board member Jack Vanier's daughter a job with the federal Agriculture Department in 1988, and hired Andreas' granddaughter himself in 1994. Way back in 1971, according to a Nixon White House memo, Andreas' son-in-law got an EPA job after Dole "absolutely insisted" on it. And Dole supports the Export Enhancement Program, a corporate subsidy that gave ADM more than $134 million between 1985 and 1995.
-- Back to the top -- Sources
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What did they get in return? Help fighting off a Justice Department probe into millions of dollars worth of oil that Koch Industries allegedly stole from Indian-owned wells. The National Journal reported that Dole and Senator Don Nickles intervened for Koch; by March 1992, in the last year of the Bush Administration, the Justice Department terminated their probe.
Koch also faced a $54 million civil lawsuit by the EPA, the Coast Guard, and the Justice Department over 300 oil spills totaling over 2.3 million gallons of oil in 6 states between 1990 and 1994. Dole introduced the "Comprehensive Regulatory Reform Act of 1995", which included a section -- the "Affirmative Defense" provision -- that would have helped Koch defend itself against the lawsuit.
The connection is much more specific than that. At Dole's request, the reform act was drafted by C. Boyden Gray, the chairman of Citizens for a Sound Economy. That's a think tank founded by Koch executive Richard Fink, and funded by Koch industries to the tune of $7.9 million dollars. Koch Industries supplied 80% of the group's funding in its first year.
-- Back to the top -- Sources
Instead of improving the proposal, he called his old friend Bob Dole. Balkany had pumped over $100,000 into Dole's coffers over the previous few years and worked as a Dole fund-raiser. He also had hired Al Lehn, a former Dole staffer, as a lobbyist. In November 1993, Dole summoned the administrator of AID, Brian Atwood, to his office for a meeting with rabbi Balkany and lobbist Lehn to discuss the proposal. When AID still hadn't approved the plan by February 1994, Dole sent a letter to Atwood arguing that "an effective use of scarce US assistance would be to fund Helping Hand projects at or near their requested level."
Finally AID gave $2.8 million to what they called the "Rabbi Milton Balkany -- Senator Robert Dole Request". Balkany wanted a lot more. He called AID in April, 1994 to say he was upset and mentioned that he "would be meeting with Dole the next day and would tell the Republican leader about his reaction", as an internal AID memo reported at the time. Dole's foreign affairs aide called the next day, pressing AID on what the terms of the grant were, and why. Then Balkany called back, noting that AID was pushing for a bill to reform it's structure. He offered a straight up deal, saying "Dole can make the restructuring plan happen if we can get the additional $3 million."
No additional money was given, though, and Helping Hand completed the program, though their costs were unusually high -- $3,200 per student. In April 1995, Balkany went back for more money, which drove AID workers nearly hysterical. The AID field worker in Moscow said she saw "absolutely no rationale for additional funds" and "It sounds like another political battle." Then an AID worker in Washington pressed for an assessment of how this "sensitive grantee" was doing. The response from Moscow was "NO, NO, NO! We do not want to give them a cent more!"
-- Back to the top -- Sources
Sin Money: Big Cash from Alcohol, Tobacco and Gambling
Interests
For all his talk of family values, Bob Dole takes a lot of money from contributors who know how to party:
booze, guns, smoke and gambling pay a lot of his campaign bills.
BOOZE: A recent study revealed the Gallo winery family has actually given Dole more than Archer Daniels Midland - - more than a million dollars over the years. Dole's take: $381,000 in direct contributions, $790,000 for the Dole Foundation, and another $100,000 to the "Better America Foundation" - Dole's PAC. (The Gallos have also given to Clinton - $100,000 in September 1995, the same month our President found time to meet Ernest in San Francisco.)
What the Gallos got in return, besides continuing support for government export subsidies, was a special transfer tax provision that will save the Gallo family over $100 million in inheritance taxes on the estates of Julio and Ernest (Julio died in 1993; Ernest is still alive.)
Dole, who backed the measure as a senior member of the 1986 Senate Finance Committee, openly called this measure "the Gallo Wine Amendment." Dole also fought off stricter labeling regulations on Gallo's imitation champagne in 1992, pressured the US trade representative to speed up Mexican wine tariff reductions, and has opposed several tax increases on alcoholic beverages. In 1992 Dole helped Ernest Gallo's nephew, Fred Franzia, by chiding FDIC regulators for not being responsive enough to Franzia when he was trying to buy a foreclosed vineyard. (Franzia's family had also given $18,000 to Dole's causes directly.)
GAMBLING, TOBACCO AND GUNS: details coming up soon. -- Back to the top -- Sources
Inside Deal on Exclusive Luxury Condo
Bob and Elizabeth Dole got a sweetheart deal on a condo in an exclusive development, the Seaview, in Bal Harbour, Florida, where they vacation frequently. First of all, you cannot even buy there unless the board and existing members -- including a variety of Washington political and media heavies, including ADM boss Dwayne Andreas, millionaire lawyer-lobbyist Robert Strauss, lawyer-lobbyist (and former GOP Senate leader) Howard Baker, and David Brinkley -- approve you. None of the 220 units hav been sold in the last 3 years, since an existing residents bought a second for their kids. Secondly, the Dole's got a bargain price, tens of thousands of dollars below market value, on the purchase price -- only $150,000. Just 3 months before, another condo ofthe same size, but in a worse part of the building, sold for $40,000 more.
Guess who sold them the condo and approved the purchase, as head of the board of directors? A company controlled by Bob's old friend Dwayne Andreas, for whom Bob has done several major political favors. Incredibly, the Dole's claim they didn't know who they bought the condo from. -- Back to the top -- Sources
Liddy Dole's $875,000 in Payoffs for "Speeches"
Elizabeth Dole likes to point out that she didn't take her first year's salary ($200,000) as head of the Red Cross. She can be that generous because she earns hundreds of thousands of dollars each year for speeches, many to lobbyists trying to influence Bob Dole. From 1991 to 1994, Liddy earned $875,000 from giving speeches (at $12,000 to $35,000 each) on volunteerism. She also got many trips to resort locations, all expenses paid.
Granted, Mrs. Dole is a national figure in her own right. But so are lots of people, who don't get paid $35,000 to lecture lobbyists about volunteering for charities. At least 16 of the groups have lobbying offices in or near Washington, AND had business pending before Congress at the time of her "speech."
Some of the groups even admit they hired her to influence her husband. Pat Areno, an executive of the Building Owners Association, paid her $20,000 plus expenses for a speech and said -- about her husband's job -- "That certainly makes her a little more interesting, definitely. You can't ignore that it's a factor. That is certainly part of her draw and appeal."
The spokeswoman for the American Health Care Association (which lobbies Congress on behalf of nursing homes) said "I suppose her connection with the senator helps create a visibility and makes her attractive" though she insists that wasn't why they paid her $20,000 for a speech.The spokesman for the travel agents' association was more blunt. When asked why they paid Liddy $35,000 and paid all expenses for a 20 minute speech in Portugal, he said "Certainly, being the wife of, at that time, the minority leader of the Senate made her a very attractive property to bring to Lisbon." And just 3 months after that speech, in February of 1995, Dole actively supported the travel agents group in a dispute with airlines, writing a letter to the Assistant US Attorney General demanding an antitrust investigation of the airlines.
Speech fees the only direct cash payoff allowed to politicians -- other campaign contributions cannot be used for personal expenses, but this money goes straight into Bob and Liddy's bank account. Bob Dole himself earned over a million in speech money between 1981 and 1991, even though Senators were limited to $2,000 per speech. In 1993 speaking fees for Senators were banned altogether, and Liddy's speechifying career took off.At least four of the groups that hired Bob Dole later hired Liddy -- and paid her 10 times as much money.
First, it just wasn't true. The LA Times found that they kept $147,663 of the earnings from 1991-1994. After a series of negative press stories, she donated another $74,635, blaming her accountant for a mistake.
Second, her "contribution to her retirement fund" was HUGE -- $243,830 -- and the Dole's are not decades away from collecting on that money. Mrs. Dole is 59, and Bob has already begun collecting on the $330,000 IRA he set up with speech money.
And third, the charity she donates to is the organization she runs, the Red Cross. It's a great group, of course, but the money also increases her power and makes her job easier. So did the $1 million contribution that Dole backer Dwayne Andreas gave the Red Cross right after Elizabeth began her job as president. -- Back to the top -- Sources
Special Foundations Set Up To Evade Contribution
Limits
Bob Dole is a major innovator, at least in finding ways to legally amass millions in donations from corporations and special interests. He has developed a network of foundations and other non-traditional organizations legally allowed to receive much larger sums of cash from people with laws pending before Dole. This also hides the contributions from voters, since reporters usually only talk about direct campaign contributions.
These include the Better America Foundation, the Campaign America PAC, the Dole Foundation, and others. The first two have blatantly served Dole's political interests, to the point where one was convicted and fined for helping Dole's 1988 presidential campaign. The Dole Foundation and the Red Cross are legitimate charities that in fact do good work. But they are also places where people who want to influence Dole know they can make him happy by spending money -- as much as a million dollars in a single donation, as Dwayne Andreas did.
The key to the whole network is Jo-Anne Coe, his campaign's National Finance Director, who has worked for Dole since 1967. Coe personally calls all of Dole's largest contributors. Not by coincidence, she was the founding president of the Better America Foundation, and executive director of Campaign America from 1988 to 1995 (until Coe switched her focus to Dole's campaign, which has raised $37 million now.)
For example, the Gallo family gave a hefty $381,000 in direct contributions, then added $790,000 for the Foundation and another $100,000 for Dole's Better America PAC. The Koch family has given only $27,000 in direct contributions, while adding another $225,000 for Better America and $25,000 for the Republican Party. They also hosted a fund-raiser for Dole that brought in $150,000 -- yet to most newspaper readers they've given "only" $27,000 to Dole.
The Campaign America PAC is a theoretically independent group Dole formed to raise his national profile and get other Republicans indebted to him. PACs are allowed to receive much larger donations than campaign committees, and Bob has doled this money out to everyone from Alfonse D'Amato to state legislators in New Hampshire, site of the critical first primary. Dole has also used these funds to fund his travels around the country, and to pay a large group of consultants, pollsters and political staff, whose work benefits him directly or indirectly.
In fact, Bob has been so aggressive in using Campaign America that the FEC hit the Dole campaign with the largest fine in FEC history (as of 1994 -- $100,000) for using it to help his 1988 presidential campaign. Campaign America was required to pay $12,000 itself. Both groups admitted guilt. The PAC had sponsored 23 campaign events in Iowa, paid for voter lists and telemarketing, obtained the phone line for Dole's New Hampshire campaign office, and printed flyers that read "Offer Iowans a friend in the White House."
By 1994, Campaign America was the second richest PAC in America, and it played a major role in financing the Republican Revolution of that year. In January 1995, it gave donations to 17 state legislators in New Hampshire, where Dole was already campaigning for the presidency. Later that year, Dole's focus turned to his campaign fundraising, so he brought Jo-Ann Coe back as his National Finance Director and turned over Campaign America to Dan Quayle. Bob said "I can think of no American who is better qualified to lead the battle for Republican victories in the vital elections that lie ahead." (Maybe that's why Republicans are doing so badly right now.)
Nonetheless, Campaign America is still a big part of Campaign Dole. When Jo-Ann Coe jumped to the official Dole campaign committee, she brought with her Campaign America's mailing list of 500,000 Dole-oriented Republican donors, an invaluable asset that has helped them raise $37 million for the campaign.
The Better America Foundation , now closed, was a tax-exempt, conservative "research" organization that received millions in donations from the business community. Jo-Ann Coe formed it in 1993, literally inside the Campaign America PAC's offices (where it was headquartered).
In 1994, Better America raked in over $4 million. It spent a good chunk of that money on TV ads just before the November 1994 elections that swept Republicans into power. The ads supported the balanced budget amendment and prominently featured Bob Dole. They were produced by a consulting firm long used by Dole's campaigns, and the foundation also hired Dole's campaign polling firm, Public Opinion Strategies.
Finally, Dole has even used charitable foundations as a receptacle for his never-ending river of special interest money. He has set up the Dole Foundation, which helps people with disabilities, Elizabeth took over the Red Cross in 1991. These charities can raise unlimited money, and give a tax deduction; plus, corporations are banned from direct contributions to PACs and campaigns, but give freely to charities.
It's nice that some of this money is going to good works, but Dole's special interest donors are fully aware that they make him happy (and make his wife's job easier) with these donations. Dwayne Andreas, who has helped the Doles in so many ways, gave a cool million dollars to the Red Cross right after Elizabeth was named director. (That should make her job, and her next job search, a bit easier.)
Over 65% of Dole Foundation donors also give money to Dole campaigns. Archer Daniels Midland and the Andreas Foundation, the Gallo Foundation, US Tobacco, and American Financial Corporation -- all mentioned here as major Dole donors and favor-recipients -- are all generous contributors. -- Back to the top -- Sources
A Free Ride: Corporate Jets at his Disposal
Bob Dole also pioneered another form of corporate support. company jets at his beck and call, from such
supporters as ADM (at least 29 flights just since 1993, over $120,000 worth), US Tobacco, Federal Express (at
least 29 flights), Carl Lindner's
American Financial Corp., and NTC Group (at least 15 flights.) He pays only the cost of a first class plane
ticket, and gets a plane and crew, waiting on his whim, to take him and staff around the country, so he can raise
lots MORE money from big contributors at fund raisers and campaign events.
The Wall Street Journal reports that "Dole aides have a Rolodex full of businesses willing to fly the candidate around for the price of a first-class ticket", and has flown Air Corporate "at least 250 times since 1993." Dole's Kansas campaign chairman essentially admitted this was a major donation when he told the Journal it would be prohibitively expensive to charter these planes at full price. Charter flights actually cost between $5,000 and $20,000 per flight, while first class tickets are generally around $1,000.
This practice is not illegal, in part because Bob Dole keeps blocking campaign finance reform. But anyone who thinks that it is not a hidden donation, or that the corporations don't expect anything in return, is a fool. -- Back to the top -- Sources
The Sleaziest of Allies: Alfonse D'Amato
One of the biggest marks against Dole is his closeness with Alfonse ("Never indicted yet!") D'Amato, one of the
sleaziest politicians in the US. Dole told Newsweek: "I call him King Al." Dole has already put him in charge
of
the Senate Banking Committee, and in return D'Amato is stretching out and milking the Whitewater hearings on
in every way possible, despite
what has to be seen as only very modest success. (It's strange to think that these hearings have gone on longer
than the OJ Simpson trial, as Democrats have pointed out.) D'Amato is also Dole's New York state campaign
chairman.
In return, Dole's Campaign America PAC has given D'Amato money, and funneled thousands more from Gallo executive J.E. Coleman, which didn't count against Campaign America's donation limits because it was specifically directed to D'Amato.
With Dole as president, expect D'Amato to be a Cabinet Secretary (the recent rumor is Treasury), or perhaps Dole's replacement as President of the Senate. Or a Supreme Court Justice.
D'Amato's character is well illustrated by his recent attacks on fellow Republicans. The man who owes his committee chairmanship to the Newtonian Revolution is attacking Gingrich and anyone else the polls dislike. Why? He was counting on a Dole victory to lead him to higher office, and neglected his own reelection campaign. Now he realizes Dole is going to need luck to beat Clinton, and he is as unpopular as Gingrich in hometown polls. D'Amato is fighting for his political life the way he has lived it -- without an ounce of integrity, character or class. -- Back to the top-- Sources
His strengths
Bob Dole really is an amazing story -- an incredibly hard working, modest, understated man who understands
Washington very well and would probably accomplish a great deal as president -- if he knows what he wants to
accomplish. His courage in war, and in recovering from literally crippling war wounds, is unassailable,
especially since not a single opponent of his
in either party has fought in combat. (Lugar and Dornan served in peacetime.)
As we discuss elsewhere, even his cynicism is honest in a way, and he is a quietly but brutally funny man with a generally appropriate sense of who to ridicule and make fun of.. (Who are we to talk, anyway?) He has always had a strong sense of modesty, hatred of show-offs and the lazy rich, and a general solid grounding in no-nonsense, Midwest values.
Unfortunately, living the Washington high life since 1961 has undercut these strengths. One of the interesting and poignant questions about Dole’s resignation from the Senate is, how much of his soul has he lost in Congress, and how much can he recapture by returning to real life? Even if he loses the presidential race, that resignation may be the best thing he’s done for himself in years. He said in his resignation speech, “I will go on to the White House or go back to Kansas.” But he lives in Washington, in the Watergate Apartments, and has no home in Kansas. The real test will be if he loses – will he really return to Kansas, or will his and Elizabeth’s careers keep him in the capital? -- Back to the top
Bob Dole has been playing the Washington game so long (since 1961) and so well that he long ago stopped even trying to accomplish anything positive. He likes to shoot down dumb ideas, and has a residual sense of responsibility that would probably prevent him from committing horrible crimes, but he has a cynical acceptance of the Washington game similar to Bob Packwood's. He knows exactly who he needs to help to get contributions, who he needs to cut deals with, and exactly how to pander to interest groups in his campaigns - and doesn't pretend otherwise. The most amazing example was earlier this year when he told a campaign audience, "If you want me to be Reagan, I'll be Reagan." He also has been blatantly pandering to the NRA (supporting assault rifle legalization) and the Christian Coalition (on abortion and other issues). Yet he can't understand why sincere true believers never quite trust him.
At the end of the 1994 Congress, he masterminded the effort that blocked the line item veto, campaign reform, and other measures he paid lip service to, simply to gain partisan advantage (and avoid passing popular items like the line item veto that he didn't really want to pass.) He has never been criticized for blocking campaign reform, which had enough votes from both Republicans and Democrats to pass easily, even though he takes in more money from special interests than almost anyone else in the history of the nation.
Inability to Delegate
Bob Dole doesn't really trust people who don't share his region -- the Midwest -- and his values, such as self-
effacing hard work. Unfortunately, practically no one in Washington qualifies, and he has long had difficulty in
building the kind of team that could help him run the country, especially as he ages from 73 to 81. His
reaction has always been to work harder, demand more from the quiet types he does trust, and work harder again.
Bill Clinton tried a similar approach when he took office, with disastrous results. Unlike Clinton, who did not yet know Washington and its talent pool, Dole has nowhere else to turn to for help if Plan A goes sour. Imagine where the Clinton administration would be if Bill had been unable to ditch his failing Arkansas allies and get some major league bench help? Imagine where Dole will be if he has a small stroke and doesn't trust anyone -- besides Elizabeth -- to take over part of his massive workload?
Clinton’s workaholism is social – he likes to involve others and feed off of their input. The book “Primary Colors” has a hilarious description of how intently Clinton listens, sucking the information out of people before they can even say it. But Dole is a true loner, a solitary decision maker who (like Jimmy Carter) micromanages and keeps his hand in everything. He also lacks any hobbies or entertainment interests at all – hasn’t seen a movie in years, and gets uncomfortable at his posh Florida beach condo after a day or two. That’s not a good way to get the human contact and experience of life a President needs. -- Back to the top
He's just too damned OLD
Bob Dole is 72 years old, and will be 73 on inauguration day. That would make him the oldest president ever, 4
years older than Reagan was
when he took office. (US life expectancy as of 1995 is 72.5 years for men.) Now granted, he is in exceptional
health for a man his age, apparently having recovered
fully from his prostate surgery in 1991, and has always been a man of incredible energy (as are Bill Clinton and
Phil Gramm.)
But Dole's personality traits make his age more problematic -- notably his hard-driving style, his inability to delegate authority and trust subordinates to make decisions, and his valuing of personal hard work above symbolism and management. Furthermore, his war wounds -- which he has shown incredible strength in battling back from -- are nonetheless a major burden for a person of any age, and will only make the incredible burdens of the presidency that much greater.
Dole has really shown his age during this campaign, in his response to Clinton's State of the Union address, and in his weak showing in debates and campaign appearances. When Dole faltered in responding to an abortion question in the South Carolina debate, he later said he didn't hear part of the question. He actually seemed to have forgotten his own position on abortion at first, which is amazing considering what a huge issue that is in Republican primaries. Either way, forgetful or hard of hearing, he looked old in a worrisome way. Interestingly, it is often older voters who are most worried about Dole's age, comparing how much they have slowed down or felt their years with the incredible demands of being president.
Those burdens have aged every recent president dramatically, even in a single term in office, and Bill Clinton -- a very young ex-football player -- shows it. Ironically, the one exception to the rule was Ronald Reagan -- but his personality made it possible. He loved symbolism and showmanship, had an impressive political team and had no problem at all delegating to them. Dole is the opposite -- closer in some ways to Clinton, with the need to personally involved in everything, the admiration of hard work and long-hours. Dole has relied on his personal strength, but it's a mighty gamble to hope that holds up for 8 years of the toughest job on earth.
Historically, 8 of the nation's 42 presidents have died in office, and several others suffered disabling illnesses. -- Back to the top-- Sources
Elizabeth Dole - Hillary II?
If you think Hillary Clinton is a strong, ambitious woman with too much influence and some questionable
financial dealings, you will get no relief from a Dole administration. Elizabeth Dole is tougher, smarter, prettier
and more ambitious than Hillary, and this country won't know what hit it. In a hypothetical catfight, we'd bet on
Liddy Dole and give 5-2 odds. And she'd make sure you never heard about it.
Already, Liddy Dole is the one Bob relies on to deliver hard news -- such as firing Dave Owen, Dole's 1988 Campaign Finance Chairman, when Owen drew heat. She is widely credited with softening Dole's sharp edges and getting him back on track for the Presidency.
She knows exactly what she wants -- to be the First Lady -- and has spent her life making it happen. Amazingly, she said so out loud in the early 1960s.
"What I really remember is that back then [in law school] she wanted to be married to the President of the United States. She was already interested in politics, and she was very conscious of the limits that were placed on women then. She thought that to be successful you'd have to be the wife of the President." - Jean Eberhart Dubofsky, her law school roommate, quoted in the New Yorker, January 22, 1996 p63.
She was pretty darn close 20 years ago: she married Bob in December 1975, and 6 months later Gerald Ford picked him as his Vice Presidential candidate, replacing Nelson Rockefeller. Even with all of the stigma of Watergate and the Nixon pardon, Ford nearly beat Jimmy Carter, which would have made Dole the heir apparent 4 years later.
She has her own scandals as well, notably around her extremely lucrative speeches and irregularities in her investments.
Ms. Dole is president of the American Red Cross, and has been in the Cabinet twice; Secretary of Labor under Bush, and Secretary of Transportation under Reagan. (She was criticized for her performance at Transportation, due to a lot of plane crashes and a fiasco over replacing the air traffic control computer system, which still does not work right.) She has also been a Federal Trade Commissioner and senior White House official, and is always on the short list of vice-presidential candidates.
Liddy Dole was born to a prosperous North Carolina family and continues to use her Southern grace to great advantage. But underneath is a steel core of ambition apparently matched by only one person on earth -- her husband. She was student body president and May Queen at Duke University in 1958, and went on to Harvard Law School.
-- Back to the top-- Sources
If you want a good, deeper portrait of Dole, you should read two books. First, read the parts about him in
Richard Ben Cramer's book "What It
Takes".
(It's a great inside perspective on the 1988 candidates, and how insane elections and the campaign press are,
though the whole thing is
pretty long -- over 1000 pages.) Cramer is pretty open about liking Bob Dole, and occasionally shades things in
Bob's favor, so take it with a grain of salt.If you have time, read the whole book -- it's an exciting narrative. In
case you don't, here are the exact page numbers dealing with Bob Dole:
30-68, 76-79, 97-111, 121-122, 126-136, 142-148, 155-158, 227-231, 237-239, 394-400, 494-496, 550-560,
584-590, 598-609, 618-625,
734-738, 744-764, 833-841, 855-857, 875-881, 891-895, 899-904, 919-922, 946-949, 954-961, 1033-1035,
1045.
The other book you should read is "Bob Dole: American Political Phoenix", by Stanley Hilton, a former Dole staff member.It is well balanced and gives a different side of him than Cramer does. The writing is clear though choppy and not as inspired as Cramer's.He has a complicated mix of admiration and disappointment in Dole, which seems about right. The last chapter, which discusses what kind of president Dole would make, is particularly insightful and even-handed.
We *don't* recommend Cramer's other, more recent book "Bob Dole", even though it is composed of excerpts from that great book. The reason is, the short book ends when the 1988 campaign begins, and you miss a lot of great material about what Bob Dole is like today (or at least, what he was like 8 years ago.)If you look at the page numbers in "What It Takes" above, the last one included in "Bob Dole" is 738, and earlier pages are left out, too: 48-53, 60- 68, 76-79, 121-122, 126-130, 155-158, 550-560, and 584-590. All told, 117 pages are left out, all describing the modern Dole.
It's important to understand Dole's early life, but it's just as important to see what he is today. The short book doesn't let you see important parts of his ruthlessness, focus on possible contributors with "lots of moneeyyyy!", and the episode in which he betrayed long-time ally and campaign finance chairman Dave Owen for political benefit. -- Back to the top
Family: Divorce and Parenting
Bob Dole married Phyllis Holden, a sweet, unambitious woman from a successful New England family. She was
a psychiatric nurse at a hospital where Dole recovered from his war wounds, but contrary to myth was never his
nurse there. She was very loyal and supportive, nurturing him and helping him launch his career.
She also bore him a daughter, Robin, though most voters probably have no idea he is a father. Robin is not a big part of his life, and Dole himself has said “I don’t think I really knew her well. I was there for ceremonial things in school. But mostly they [Phyllis and Robin] were here and I was not. Sooner or later, you have to make a decision – is the child going to become fatherless? … If you become married to politics, something else is going to suffer.”
Bob did make his decision, and he stayed married to politics, often coming home at midnight, leaving at 5 am the next morning. His marriage naturally suffered, and in 1971 he asked Phyllis for a divorce, out of the blue, no discussion. During the last year of their marriage, she has said, he was only home for supper 4 nights.
It’s ironic that such a solid, hard-working Midwestern Republican was such a bad husband and father, while Bill Clinton, with all of his (alleged and acknowledged) affairs, has by all accounts been a darn good father to Chelsea. Hillary may have a different perspective on how good a husband he is, but she has loyally stood by him, and they have kept their marriage together despite their many troubles. -- Sources Back to the top
General:
"What It Takes", Richard Ben Cramer, Random House, 1992 p. 30-68, 76-79, 97-111, 121-122, 126-136, 142- 148, 155-158, 227-231, 237-239, 394-400, 494-496, 550-560, 584-590, 598-609, 618-625, 734-738, 744-764, 833-841, 855-857, 875-881, 891-895, 899-904, 919-922, 946-949, 954-961, 1033-1035, 1045
"Bob Dole: American Political Phoenix", Stanley G. Hilton, Contemporary Books, 1988
"Let Dole Lead", Mark Helprin, Wall Street Journal, February 2, 1996
Elving, Ronald D. "The Nixon connection" Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report, July 8, 1995 p2013.
Shapiro, Walter. "The survivor", Esquire, April, 1995 p64
"G.O.P. - the stupidest party; ripe for Perot's plucking", Noel Parmentel, Jr. The Nation, June 28, 1993 p897
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An excellent overview is the following article:
"Senator Dole's Greatest Harvest", Glenn Simpson, The
American Prospect, Summer 1995 p25-33
"Filling Dole's Coffer's Is a Sprawling Network of Business Families", Wall Street Journal, February 12, 1996 pA4 (Western edition) -- Another good overview
"Money's Grip on Politics Detailed", San Francisco Examiner, January 30, 1996 pA1
"Elites Have Been Throwing Money At Bob Dole", Molly Ivins, San Francisco Chronicle, January 26, 1996 pA27
"Razorback Money Drops Clinton, Backs Bob Dole", Wall Street Journal, February 15, 1996 pA18
"Skin deep: Republican Front-runner Bob Dole Will Do Anything For a Buck", Peter Stone, Rolling Stone, August 24, 1995 p39
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"Senator Dole's Greatest Harvest", above, in the section titled "ADM's Bumper Crop"
"How Dwayne Andreas Hedges His Bets", Wall Street Journal, October 27, 1995 pA1
"The Real Cost of Ethanol", Dan Carney, Mother Jones, January 1995
"Coin-Op Congress: Sen. Bob Dole", Mother Jones Online
"Dwayne's World", Dan Carney, Mother Jones, January 1995
"Bob Dole's sugar daddy. (Dwayne Andreas)", Jacob Weisberg, New York Magazine, July 10, 1995 p22
Molly Ivins column, 1/26/96, above.
"Filling Dole's Coffers" article, WSJ,above
Natural Gas Companies
"Senator Dole's Greatest Harvest", above, in section titled "Doling Out Legislation"
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"Filling Dole's Coffers" article, WSJ, above
Molly Ivins column, 1/26/96, above.
"Senator Dole's Greatest Harvest", above, in section titled "ADM's Bumper Crop"
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"Filling Dole's Coffers" article, WSJ, above
Molly Ivins column, 1/26/96, above.
"Coin-Op Congress: Sen. Bob Dole", Mother Jones Online
National Journal, May 16,1992
"Under the Influence: The 1996 Presidential Candidates and Their Campaign Advisers, Center For Public Integrity, 1996. See the section titled "Common Sense" under Bob Dole.
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"Elizabeth Dole Makes Tardy Charity Donation", Washington Post News Service, San Francisco Chronicle, Feburary 8, 1996
"Elizabeth Dole Got $875,000 Over 4 Years As A Speaker;Couple Kept $147,663", David Willman, Los Angeles Times, January 25, 1996
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"Senator Dole's Greatest Harvest", Glenn Simpson, The American Prospect, Summer 1995 p25-33. See the section "ADM's Bumper Crop"
"Plenty of Capitol in Dole's Hideaway: Florida resort has D.C. ties", USA Today, April 1, 1996 p8A
"The Doles' Moment in the Sun: The Campaigning Couple's Florida Retreat has a Long History With Political Insiders", The Kansas City Star, April 4, 1996
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"The Senator and the Rabbi", Lucette Lagnado, Wall Street Journal, February 20, 1996
"Character Issue Can, Will Hit Dole As Well", Robert Beckel, Los Angeles Times, April 14, 1996, Section M, page 2
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"Ill Gotten Gains", Joe Stephens, Kansas City Star, April 21, 1996
"Dole dogged by Laundered Funds before.", Joe Stephens, Kansas City Star, April 21, 1996
"Fireman Pleads Guilty", All Things Considered, National Public Radio, October 24, 1996
"Firm's Workers Gave to Dole Before Key Bill", Phil Kuntz, Wall Street Journal, April 25,1996 pA20
"Bob Dole: American Political Phoenix", Stanley G. Hilton, Contemporary Books, 1988
"For Dole and Buchanan, Bad Blood Began at Nixon White House", James Perry and Phil Kuntz, Wall Street Journal, March 14, 1996pA20 (western edition)
"In Bob Dole's World, She is the Unseen Power", Jeff Gerth, New York Times, January 28, 1996
"Executive Privilege: Two Centuries of White House Scandals", Jack Mitchell, Hippocrene Books, 1992
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"Money's Grip on Politics Detailed", San Francisco Examiner, January 30, 1996 pA1
"Senator Dole's Greatest Harvest", Glenn Simpson, The American Prospect, Summer 1995 p25-33. See the sections "ADM's Bumper Crop", "Pocket Picking" and "Shaky Foundations".
"Filling Dole's Coffer's Is a Sprawling Network of Business Families", Wall Street Journal, February 12, 1996 pA4 (Western edition) -- Another good overview
"Elites Have Been Throwing Money At Bob Dole", Molly Ivins, San Francisco Chronicle, January 26, 1996 pA27
-------Back to the top
"Senator Dole's Greatest Harvest", Glenn Simpson, The American Prospect, Summer 1995 p25-33. See the sections "Pocket Picking" and "Shaky Foundations".
"In Bob Dole's World, She is the Unseen Power", Jeff Gerth, New York Times, January 28, 1996
"Dole Enlists Quayle to Head PAC", San Francisco Chronicle, September 22, 1995 pA6
"Staff Dynamo Keeps Dole's Coffers Full", Jake Thompson, Kansas City Star, December 25, 1995
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"Dole Campaign Has Paid over $1 Million to Firm that Uses Telemarketing to Criticize Opponents", Glenn Simpson, Wall Street Journal, March 12, 1996 pA20
"Push Polling: Forbes Hits Dole Tactic, But Did the Same", The Hotline, February 12, 1996
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"Ambitious Update of Air Navigation Becomes a Fiasco", Matthew Wald, New York Times, January 29, 1996 pA1
"Dole's Safety Claims Questioned; Transportation Chief More Press Release Than Action, Critics Say", Washington Post, July 23, 1985 pA1
"Blind Trust", Jane Mayer, The New Yorker, January 22, 1996 p62
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"Bob Dole: American Political Phoenix", Stanley G. Hilton, Contemporary Books, 1988 p93-99
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"Blind Trust", Jane Mayer, The New Yorker, January 22, 1996 p62
"Senator Dole's Greatest Harvest", Glenn Simpson, The American Prospect, Summer 1995 p25-33. See the section titled "The Teflon Senator?"
"What It Takes", Richard Ben Cramer, Random House, 1992 p836-841, 589-590
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"Some Iowa Senior Citizens Worry Dole's Age Could Hurt His Prospects to Become President", James Perry, Wall Street Journal, February 8, 1996 pA16
"Loyalty and Skepticism From Dole's Age Group", New York Times, March 11, 1996 pA9
"The Age Factor: Dole Candidacy Splits Experts", New Orleans Times- Picayune, April 6, 1996 pA5
"Abortion: Dole Uncomfortable With His Fetal Position", The Hotline, March 1, 1996
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"Dole's frequent-flier miles." (Robert Dole took many flights on jets owned by corporations with business pending before Congress), Newsweek, April 24, 1995 p32.
"Filling Dole's Coffer's Is a Sprawling Network of Business Families", Wall Street Journal, February 12, 1996 pA4 (Western edition)
"Senator Dole's Greatest Harvest", Glenn Simpson, The American Prospect, Summer 1995 p25-33. See the sections titled "Pocket Picking" and "ADM's Bumper Crop".
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"Politics: Bob Dole's surprising kingmaker.(Senator Al D'Amato)", Howard Fineman, Newsweek, March 27, 1995 p29.
"Senator Dole's Greatest Harvest", Glenn Simpson, The American Prospect, Summer 1995 p25-33. See the section titled "Pocket Picking".
"Is D'Amato Looking For a Dole Admin. Spot?", The Hotline, April 1, 1996
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-- “waits to see which way wind is blowing” – Martin Tolchin and Jef Gerth, “The Contradictions of Bob Dole,”, New York Times Magazine, November 8, 1987. She later wrote a letter to the editor saying she had been quoted out of context. -- "PACs expect something" -- "Senator Dole's Greatest Harvest", Glenn Simpson, The American Prospect, Summer 1995 p25
"The Internet" -- Computer Reseller News, September 9, 1996
-- "California oranges" -- The Hotline, March 26,1996
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