ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, August 7, 1996 TAG: 9608070050
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SAN DIEGO
SOURCE: FROM THE WASHINGTON POST AND THE BOSTON GLOBE
note: lede
Republican moderates Tuesday reacted angrily to Bob Dole's abandoning his call for an explicit declaration of tolerance in the party platform on the issue of abortion. They threatened a fight at next week's convention.
California Gov. Pete Wilson, joined by Massachusetts Gov. William Weld and Sen. Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, called dropping the conciliatory language ``a serious failure to properly recognize the views of the majority of the Republican Party. We are deeply disappointed and troubled by this flawed decision, which flies in the face of Republican opinion across the country.''
Weld said Tuesday, ``I don't want to drum the pro-lifers out of the party, I just want there to be room for me and them.''
Platform drafters Tuesday repeatedly rejected efforts by abortion-rights supporters to modify the party's anti-abortion stance or to restore Dole's proposal expressing tolerance for their views.
Floor fights over the language in the abortion plank or Dole's running mate, if that person supports abortion rights, could ruin the convention for Dole. Candidates often receive a boost in opinion polls right after their party's nominating convention.
``The perceptions of the Republican convention are very important for Bob Dole in terms of narrowing the difference between the support he receives from men and the support he receives from women,'' said Vince Breglio, a GOP pollster. ``The focus on abortion is not helpful for Bob Dole. What may be even more hurtful for him is a nasty, bruising floor fight which he may not be able to win.''
Charles R. Black Jr., a GOP strategist, said, ``The key is to get it over with before the convention starts.'' Black said the abortion issue is a problem for Republicans every four years, not just for Dole.
At issue is not the party position on abortion - the platform reiterates a longstanding call for a constitutional amendment banning it - but language designed to recognize the views of abortion rights supporters. Under pressure from conservatives, Dole on Monday backed away from proposed language to regard abortion as an issue of ``personal conscience'' and subject to differing views.
Wilson said he would participate in a floor fight to win tolerance language or other recognition of abortion-rights views ``if necessary'' but stressed ``it would be a good thing not to have a floor fight if this could be avoided.'' Asked if the abortion-rights faction has majority backing in six state delegations - the support necessary to raise an issue on the convention floor - Wilson said: ``I think we are very close to what we need.''
Govs. Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey and George Pataki of New York also criticized the proposed platform language. ``If there's going to be a floor fight, New Jersey will be there,'' Whitman said. ``I will be as vocal as I need to be.''
In a speech from Washington to the platform committee Tuesday, Dole stayed with his message of economic growth through tax cuts and a balanced budget. He never once mentioning the abortion fracas.
``The dividing line in this campaign is crystal clear: I believe Washington takes too much of your hard-earned money,'' said a stern-looking Dole. ``Bill Clinton does not.''
The Clinton campaign was not silent on the Republicans' abortion language. ``With his decision to abandon mainstream Republicans, and adopt Pat Robertson's and Pat Buchanan's definition of `tolerance,' all traces of Bob Dole's reported move to the center have been erased,'' said Ann Lewis, President Clinton's deputy campaign manager.
Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, chairman of the Democratic Party, said Dole ``completely capitulated to the extremist elements of his own party.''
In the end, the moderate voters Dole is trying to sway may not heed the wording on abortion in the party's platform. Political scientists such as Linda Fowler of Dartmouth College and pollsters such as Breglio say most voters do not rank abortion as a top issue when choosing a candidate.
Gary Bauer, president of the Family Research Council and an opponent of abortion, said ``those voters don't tend to be passionate one way or another'' when it comes to abortion.
``He needs to give a vision for where he wants to take the country,'' Bauer said. ``He needs to signal to them that he understands their economic anxiety. The last eight weeks he tried to move away from the right to life position and it didn't gain him anything, he dropped behind.''
Dole's change in position resulted Tuesday in conservative leaders changing from Dole adversaries into supporters. Bauer and Phyllis Schlafly, head of the Eagle Forum, criticized the moderate wing of the party, using almost exactly the same language moderates have used against them in the past.
``Governor Wilson and a few others have said they want a floor fight in behalf of the pro-choice goal,'' Schlafly said. ``It would be a real tragedy if they decide to break up this convention for a fight that is destined to loose.''
Directing his remarks to Wilson and Weld, Bauer said ``I would plead with them as Republican governors to not torpedo Bob Dole's chances to win the White House by blowing up this convention on the floor ... by bringing up an issue they are bound to loose overwhelmingly. This is their chance to show that they are team players, and I have enough confidence in both men that they will not destroy this party for their own narrow concerns on this one issue.''
During this year's Republican primaries, exit polls showed 55 percent of GOP voters opposed maintaining the anti-abortion plank that has been a part of the GOP platform since 1980. Forty-one percent favored keeping it. A poll by California newspapers of the 1,990 delegates who will attend next week's convention indicated 62 percent favor tolerance on abortion or eliminating all mention of the issue.
Cox News Service and Newsday also contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Long : 110 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP Cheryl Sullenger displays her opinion outside theby CNBSan Diego center where Republicans are drafting their platform.
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