ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, August 15, 1996 TAG: 9608150070
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SAN DIEGO
SOURCE: JODI ENDA KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
NOTE: Lede
Bob Dole, war hero, senator, citizen, traded in his chosen label as a common man Wednesday night for the one he has so long desired: presidential nominee.
With the traditional pomp, Republicans handed Dole the nomination that has eluded him twice before, officially making him the last GOP presidential candidate of the millennium and most likely the final contender from a generation that has dominated the second half of this century.
Calling Dole a ``quiet hero,'' Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., placed his friend's name in nomination, asking him to ``answer his country's call again,'' for the sake of the nation.
The traditional roll of the states weaved from Alabama to Wyoming and then back to Kansas where Dole's state delegation sent the son of tiny Russell over the top and into an 84-day campaign against Clinton.
It was a moment to cherish for the 73-year-old Dole, who has labored in Republican politics for four decades.
The nation will decide whether Dole, who came of age in the first half of this century, or Bill Clinton, who came of age in the second half, should lead America into the next.
``We nominate Bob Dole for president because he is a man of honor, a man of firm purpose and deep commitment to his country's cause,'' McCain said in prepared remarks. ``We nominate Bob Dole for president because this nation deserves better than the aimless direction we have endured for four years.''
Without uttering President Clinton's name, McCain evoked a contrast by highlighting Dole's near-death on an Italian battlefield in World War II and McCain's own years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, a conflict that Clinton avoided.
McCain recalled how Dole wore a POW bracelet bearing his name and didn't tell him for years, how he led the fight in Congress against cutting off funding for the Vietnam War before McCain and other prisoners were released. He said Dole was inspired to enter public service by regular folks from middle America who helped him overcome his own war injury.
``In his plain-spoken, dignified way,'' McCain said, ``Bob Dole has carried our deepest cares and held our brightest hopes. And that, my friends, is why the American people will elect this decent, honorable man to lead this great country to the next American century.''
The campaign may be Dole's toughest fight since he came home from the war in a body cast, after defying expectations he would be in a body bag.
At his side will be Jack Kemp, nominated for vice president Wednesday night.
Brash and iconoclastic, Kemp had been relegated to the political sidelines after openly clashing with GOP tenets and leaders, including Dole. He seemed to write his own obituary within the party when he endorsed the presidential campaign of publisher Steve Forbes just as Dole was about to clinch the nomination this year.
``When Jack Kemp speaks, his voice is heard beyond traditional Republican Party venues,'' said New York Gov. George Pataki, who formally nominated the former housing secretary and New York congressman. ``What we hear in his voice is a message of optimism, of opportunity, a brighter children for the children of all Americans regardless of race, religious, ethnicity or economic station.''
The two former competitors will try to unseat Clinton and Vice President Gore by pounding away at the notion that the Democrats raised taxes after pledging to cut them and they have failed to provide - indeed, that they are incapable of providing - the kind of moral guidance needed to lead the nation to a safer, more prosperous future.
As an alternative, Dole and Kemp will offer to slash taxes and balance the budget, reduce the power of the federal government and take on the root causes of juvenile crime and drug use. They will campaign to improve education by giving parents money so they can choose their children's schools, to boost small businesses by easing federal regulations, to rein in judges by appointing more conservatives to the bench.
First, they have to tell the nation who Bob Dole is.
That started Wednesday night, with personal tributes by friends like McCain, Dole's wife, Elizabeth, and his daughter, Robin.
Recalling how her father took her on a roller coaster and taught her how to ride a bike, a now-adult Robin Dole called herself ``the imperfect child of a great man.''
``I wish every child could grow up as I did, with a father she knew would love her without condition, keep her safe from harm, glory in her independence and drive deep in her soul and unshakable understanding of right and wrong,'' she said.
Elizabeth Dole's appearance was crafted with a viewing audience of millions in mind: She strolled talk-show style from the convention podium into the mass of delegates, making a few carefully selected stops for testimonials to her husband. Among them: a visit with the widow of the orthopedic surgeon who operated on Dole eight times after he was wounded in Italy.
The Bob Dole story will go high-tech tonight, with an eight-minute video reintroducing to the nation a man who has been in the headlines for decades.
Then, it will be Dole's turn to talk directly to the nation.
Keenly aware the speech could turn his campaign around, as George Bush's did in 1988, Dole and his aides continued to rewrite it on the day before delivery.
``Oh, you always change a few things around,'' Dole told reporters Wednesday morning. He predicted success, saying, ``You're gonna like it.''
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Long : 106 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. During her walk in the crowd, Elizabeth Doleby CNBintroduces Republican delegates to Pat Lynch, a nurse who attended
Bob Dole after his World War II injury. color. KEYWORDS: POLITICS PRESIDENT