Thursday, October 21, 1999
Dole gave up on race before local fund-raiser
Event was planned here in November
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Too bad Elizabeth Dole didn't wait another three weeks or so to drop out of the presidential race.
The Republican candidate and wife of 1996 GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole was scheduled to stump and raise money in Northern Kentucky in early November.
“We were looking at (November) 9th or 10th,” said Fort Mitchell lawyer Rick Robinson, a member of the Kentucky Republican Party Executive Committee who was working on the Dole campaign.
“We were going to have a fund-raiser and a political event. But she just felt she didn't have the money to compete with others in the race.”
Mr. Robinson was speaking, of course, about GOP front-runner George W. Bush, who has raised more than $60 million, and Steve Forbes, a billionaire who can spend all he wants.
By contrast, Mrs. Dole has raised only about $5 million, a figure that in past presidential campaigns would have made her a strong candidate at this point, Mr. Robinson said.
“It's a sad commentary on our political system,” he said. “She has raised the kind of money that would have made her a contender in past years. Now, she's out of the race before the first vote is cast because of the large sums of money in the race.”
Mr. Robinson was on a conference call Wednesday morning planning the local visit with Mrs. Dole's Washington campaign office when she came on the line.
“She basically told us how sorry she was but that it was over,” he said. “The political debate in the campaign will be less, because Mrs. Dole was talking specifics, not just talking politics and rhetoric.”
The fact that Mr. Bush and Mr. Forbes plan to begin running campaign commercials next week convinced her that now was the time to get out of the race, Mr. Robinson said.
“When she looked at her finances, she knew she couldn't go up on TV with the other two,” he said.
GEX STILL TIGHT-LIPPED: Boone County Republican Gex “Jay” Williams still won't say if he is in or out of next year's 4th District Congres sional District race.
With the governor's race this year basically a joke and with few local elections on the November ballot, speculation on Mr. Williams' plans has been a big topic of discussion.
Some Republicans who claim to be close to Mr. Williams and members of his inner circle claim he is quietly laying the groundwork for another run. Others GOP members say there is no way he will run, that he will bide his time and wait until 2004, when U.S. Rep Ken Lucas' self-imposed three-term limit will be up.
Mr. Williams, who lost last year's Congressional race to Democrat Mr. Lucas in a political bloodbath, isn't tipping his hand.
“I said I would start thinking about it in September, and that's what I'm doing,” Mr. Williams said Wednesday. “But I haven't made a decision either way.”
Mr. Williams may just be toying with the press and the Democrats about his candidacy, keeping them guessing about his plans. It's getting late to put together a Congressional campaign considering that Mr. Lucas has already raised more than $500,000.
TESTING SUPPORT: Republican Eric Deters, who has already announced his candidacy for the 2003 Kenton County attorney's race, is about to get a good look at his early support.
Mr. Deters has a campaign fund-raiser planned for Tuesday that will feature an appearance from his distant cousin and friend, Ohio Treasurer Joe Deters, a rising star in the Ohio GOP.
Eric Deters has said he hopes to raise from $25,000 to $50,000 at the $100-a-person event, which is to be held at the Fort Mitchell home of his campaign manager, Paula Miller.
Mr. Deters has worked hard trying to gets lots of donors to come out, even hand-writing letters to more than 100 potential contributors.
We'll check the crowd to see how many Republicans come out this early for a fund-raiser in a race that is more than three years away. With talk that another Republican could get in the race and even rumors that incumbent Democrat Garry Edmondson might switch parties and run in in the primary against Mr. Deters, some big-name GOP donors might stay away.
Then again, a big turnout generating lots of campaign cash could spook out other potential candidates and keep them out the race.
Patrick Crowley covers Kentucky politics for The Kentucky Enquirer. His column appears Thursdays and Sundays. He can be reached at 578-5581, or 502-875-7526 in Frankfort, or by e-mail at
crowleys@cinci.infi.net
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