THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 12, 1996 TAG: 9606120007
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 47 lines
The nation bade farewell to a U.S. Senate majority leader on Tuesday and greeted a full-time candidate for the presidency.
The goodbye and the hello are both welcome. Just as the country has been the richer for Bob Dole's 27 years in the Senate, so it should now benefit from his departure.
The task of articulating a vision for America's future is too critical and the job of managing the Senate too consuming to contemplate doing both. In the Senate, candidate Dole would have been forever stumbling over traps set by his political rivals. On the trail, Majority Leader Dole might have found himself forever explaining how some policy proposal meshed - or didn't mesh - with his actions in shepherding legislation.
Just as there's compelling reason for constitutional separation of powers, so perhaps there should be an unwritten mandate for separation of pursuits.
Virginia attorneys general who have run for governor have long found it valuable to relinquish the job of top lawyer during the campaign season. Andrew Miller, Gerald Baliles and Mary Sue Terry all opted for leaving office while they campaigned. If a rationale for doing so exists at the state level, it is exponentially greater at the federal level.
In departing the Senate, Dole ends a distinguished career begun when Richard Nixon was in the White House. Dole's intellect, forcefulness and staying power have made him one of the century's Senate giants. No one in history has served longer as Senate Republican leader.
Dole's love affair with public service dates even further back, however. His passion for public life has been uninterrupted since - as a local hero, wounded in World War II - he entered the Kansas House of Representatives in 1951. Along the way, he built a reputation as a fierce partisan and a no-nonsense conservative on matters from budget deficits to abortion. Guided by his own physical disability and small-town roots, he believes that government has a role to play in protecting our least-fortunate citizens.
Many Americans see Dole as especially suited to legislative tasks. Terse and blunt in speech, attentive to detail, skilled at finding and exploiting points of compromise, he has impacted national directions on virtually every major issue of our times.
The question for the next five months is whether Dole can take on the style and message of a chief executive as easily as he can shuck off the title of Senate majority leader. His decision to quit the Senate leaves him unencumbered. The time has arrived for Dole to show whether his undeniable legislative skills are adaptable to a new role. by CNB