ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, October 19, 1996 TAG: 9610210062
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS STAFF WRITER
THE BINGO PLAYERS at the Roanoke Moose Lodge say they know why Dole doesn't have Virginia locked up.
Nancy Ferguson leaned over the table where she had just finished arranging her bingo cards.
``I can tell you why Dole is not doing good anywhere,'' she said. ``Because he's too much like Nixon. He looks like Nixon, and he acts like Nixon.''
Ferguson is a beautician, and she has talked with hundreds of customers since the Republican began campaigning for president. She said most of them probably wouldn't make the parallel with the former president, but they do say Bob Dole is too old to be president.
``The main thing is his age,'' she said. ``Not his politics or what he goes for. It's his age. Clinton is a more aggressive, younger, vibrant man. He jogs all the time.''
Most people getting their bingo fix Thursday evening were about as interested in Dole's upcoming visit to Virginia as the two moose whose disembodied heads survey the main hall of the Roanoke Moose Lodge. Players were too busy getting their ashtrays and the five-gallon buckets that would be filled by the end of the evening with discarded bingo cards or, if they got lucky, with their winnings.
``So?'' one woman asked when she was advised that Dole would arrive in Norfolk today. She continued dabbing the free space in the center of each bingo card with a hot pink marker.
``I don't know, is he too old?'' asked Louise Johnson from the next table. She considered the question for a moment.
``He fell off that thing,'' she said, apparently referring to his tumble in Chico, Calif., after leaning on an unsecured railing. ``Dole might be a little old for the job. You've got to be young to fly around to all these countries. I heard the other day Clinton was for welfare and abortions, so I don't know.''
Many of the players are themselves senior citizens, but Justine Henderson said she doesn't believe Dole, 73, is sympathetic to his own age group.
``Us seniors, he's going to cut off the benefits,'' she said. ``As soon as he gets into office, it's going to be one more joke.''
Still, some of the local bingo players said there is one way the Dole campaign could stir up some interest in the Commonwealth: They could send Elizabeth Dole.
``I do personally think Mrs. Dole would make a great president,'' Ferguson said. ``The woman is intelligent. Smart. She's got it all together.''
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 73 too old for president? color. KEYWORDS: POLITICS PRESIDENTby CNB