THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 19, 1995 TAG: 9503170015
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J5 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: Perry Morgan
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
If elected to the office, what president would Republican front-runner Bob Dole like to emulate? The answer: Dwight Eisenhower whom Dole described to a New York Times interviewer as ``a Republican, but sort of above it all.''
This salute to one of the least contentious and most popular presidents seems out of sorts with Dole's reputation as a fanged partisan infighter. On the other hand it fits neatly with the current effort to transform the Kansas senator into a mellow, avuncular fellow who only occasionally snarls. (``The balanced-budget amendment would have passed if we'd had a real president.'') Intentionally or not, it also seems to track Bill Clinton's effort to position himself halfway between ascendant anti-government Republicans and standpat Democrats.
If this is reactive politics made up on the run by Clinton, it is not without shrewdness. If the Republican House is able to work its will, a lot of things that have been nailed down (school lunches, welfare, various subsidies) will be pried loose, and another recession may be in the works, uncushioned by the accustomed increase in federal spending. In that event, a majority of Americans might welcome respite from root-canal politics and a pause for reflection on the effects of reformers rammed forward by the likes of Newt Gingrich and Phil Gramm. Clinton's bromides about the need for a government that is lean but not mean would gain point and appeal. From where he now stands, Dole could make the same point. He's not much impressed by the so-called Contract With America, he told The Times interviewer, and doesn't see much ideological meaning in the 1994 Republican landslide.
This is hardly surprising. Dole is the ultimate insider-careerist; term limits would have put him to pasture long ago in the wheat country whose subsidies he supports. Moreover, Dole holds true to his experience: He was educated by the GI bill, and his grandfather, a jobless tenant farmer, benefited from welfare payments. He does not hide his gratitude. Against the Reagan tides of red ink he pushed for tax increases which, according to the Gramm-Gingrich gospel, is an excommunicable offense. He thinks government is too large but does not believe it corrupts those it tries to help.
One could say of Dole - and of Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan - that he is a New Dealer in low gear. But, of course, those presidents had to deal with Democratic majorities in Congress. Dole, if elected, likely would have a Republican majority, a fact that poses the most pertinent of questions: What would he propose to do with it?
There is now no answer in terms of activist politics. Dole has no message; he's a hold-your-horses fellow, skeptical of change, comfortable with compromise and the meshing of competing interests. The waspishness he seeks to efface owes less to philosophy than to being on the losing side of an argument or a vote. He speaks of red-hot activists like Gingrich and Gramm in mocking tones, and sometimes suggests that Gramm might brush up on his manners.
This is a luxury that may become less affordable. Abrasive as they are, Gramm, Gingrich and their allies in the House and Senate are the agents of political change. And if the House approves the Contract, Dole, who styles himself as ``Republican Leader,'' will be judged by his success in winning Senate approval of legislation he finds, in considerable part, unappealing.
Despite the huge lead polls give his bid for the Republican nomination, Dole has not found a theme or message that distinctly sets him apart form Clinton on the left and Gramm and other Republicans on his right. Despite the occasional snarl, it is personal history - longevity, traditional conservatism and compassion - that constitutes his chief appeal. MEMO: Mr. Morgan is a former publisher of The Virginian-Pilot and The
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