ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 12, 1996 TAG: 9602130095
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SIOUX CITY, IOWA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
note: lede
On the eve of the Iowa caucuses, GOP candidates hopscotched the state Sunday, courting the one-fifth of Republicans that polls suggest are undecided.
With Bob Dole's lead appearing to stabilize, the real battle formed around who would be second.
As the rivals moved from town meetings and rallies to TV talk shows, publishing heir Steve Forbes emerged as everyone else's favorite target.
``Forbes is falling, despite his massive amount of negative ads,'' asserted former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander. Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, trailing in the single digits, ridiculed Forbes for complaining about anonymous phone calls against him, saying, ``He can dish it out, but he can't take it.''
Dole declined to criticize Forbes directly. But his campaign continued to air ads calling Forbes ``untested ... and more liberal than you think.''
Dole said he was content with polls showing him with a lead in the high 20s, far behind the 37 percent he carried in 1988, when there were fewer candidates.
The Forbes and Dole campaigns continued to spar over phone calls. Forbes' camp has accused Dole's of sponsoring anonymous calls that misrepresent Forbes' position on abortion, the flat tax and gays in the military.
The Dole campaign has said it hired a Utah telemarketing firm to do some public-opinion research, but Dole spokesman Nelson Warfield said: ``This company never did negative calls. It merely conducted small-sample public opinion research.'' In Salt Lake City, Michael Berry, a former employee of the company, told a news conference the surveys were meant to sway support from Forbes.
Forbes has spent about $4 million in Iowa. He bought 30-minute spots that were running on TV stations Sunday around the state.
A new poll by the Des Moines Sunday Register showed 46 percent of likely GOP caucus-goers view Forbes in generally unfavorable terms.
A day earlier, the paper published a poll showing Dole with a 28 percent lead, Forbes second at 16 percent, conservative commentator Pat Buchanan with 11 percent, Alexander at 10 percent and Gramm at 8 percent.
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, greeting supporters inby CNBDavenport, says Steve Forbes "can dish it out, but he can't take
it.'' color
2. AP Steve Forbes tells a luncheon in suburban Des Moines that he
is under ``vigorous, vicious'' attacks from his rivals. color
3. Bob Dole greets diners in Des Moines. He says, "Somebody else
will finish second.'' color KEYWORDS: POLITICS