Bob Dole

Hagan getting to know D.C.

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:58:35 -0500

Sen.-elect Kay Hagan is getting to know Washington.

The Greensboro Democrat said she doesn't know yet which wooden desk she'll use in the Senate chamber, but she knows it'll be in the back right — a rather crowded area for Democrats these days.

During a tour, she looked for the desk belonging to her uncle, former Florida Sen. Lawton Chiles. It's not uncommon for such desks to be handed down, as Sen. Elizabeth Dole used the desk that belonged to her husband, Bob.

In several days of orientation, Hagan saw the electoral college counts from the disputed Jefferson-Burr race, learned about ethics rules and looked for a house to rent or buy near the Capitol.

She said she plans to keep Dole's office in Raleigh open and may hire some of her state staff as well. (N&O)

Dole back on Capitol Hill

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:16:03 -0500

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole was back on Capitol Hill today for the lame-duck session going on this week.

The Salisbury Republican attended the weekly GOP luncheon in the U.S. Capitol with colleagues, walking past swarms of reporters on her way inside, Barb Barrett reports. (Her husband, former Sen. Bob Dole, also attended, though he did not walk in with her.)

Later, in an hours-long Senate Banking hearing, Dole told Detroit auto executives of her skepticism about lending billions of federal taxdollars to bail them out of trouble.

Dole, who lost re-election to Democratic challenger Kay Hagan, opposed the $700 billion federal bailout approved in September. She said she doesn’t think much has come of it so far.

"Like so many North Carolinians I've heard from, I continue to be very skeptical of this newly enacted law is turning out to be the 'blank check' that so many of us feared," Dole said in her opening statement.

She added later: "Without fundamental changes in the automotive industry, we'd just be throwing taxpayers' dollars at firms that will inevitably go under."

Drescher: Dole, Hagan took cheap shots

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:58:56 -0500

John Drescher says both Senate candidates took cheap shots.

In his weekly column, the N&O editor said that U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole's "godless" ad was the "national cheap shot of the year," but he added that Democrat Kay Hagan was also graceless in her acceptance speech:

In what had to be the tackiest victory speech ever, Hagan took three swipes at Dole in less than 13 minutes. She said:
* She'd given her ruby-red shoes away (so Dole could click her heels and go home to Kansas).
* When she entered the race, the press and politicians were ready to hand Dole the keys to her office for another six years. "But it's not her office," she said twice.
* "It's certainly nice to have a husband who can vote for me" — a reference to Dole's husband, Bob Dole, who is from Kansas.

A Hagan spokeswoman said the comments weren't attacks on Dole.

"If those weren't digs, I am Jesse Helms," he writes.

Guillory: Burr should get goin' now

bniolet — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:19:34 -0500

Ferrel Guillory figures GOP Sen. Richard Burr ought to get crackin’ now for his own re-election bid in 2010, saying this week that Democrats will be infused with new energy with the wins of both Barack Obama and Kay Hagan, who defeated incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Dole on Tuesday, Barb Barrett reports.

"Kay Hagan winning certainly will send a signal that Sen. Burr is going to have a strong Democratic opponent," said Guillory, a longtime political reporter now at UNC-Chapel Hill. "Sen. Burr will be on notice the next two years that he’s got his work in front of him, both to be a productive senator and a good campaigner. Certainly he’ll learn some lessons from Sen. Dole too."

Among those lessons, he said, is to come back in North Carolina on a regular basis. That shouldn’t be as much a concern for Burr, who returns home to Winston-Salem most weekends to be with his wife. Dole lives in the Watergate apartments in Washington with her husband, former Sen. Bob Dole.

More from Dole's concession speech

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:54:30 -0500

Sen. Elizabeth Dole entered Salisbury's historic train depot at 9:47 p.m. with her husband Bob as 200 supporters stood and cheered.

She acknowledged a hard-fought campaign in which, she said, tens of millions of dollars poured into the state to fight her reelection, Bruce Henderson of the Charlotte Observer reports.

"I'm not happy with the tone that this campaign has acquired," she said, referring to a barrage of negative advertising from both sides, "but I will say that I will never regret fighting as hard as I could for the privilege of continuing to serve you."

"It's been the highest honor in my life to be elected the first female U.S. senator in North Carolina history," said Dole, who said she regarded her Senate duty as "mission" work. "I have done my level best to make you proud."

She recapped her career achievements, including jobs in the White House and as secretary of labor and transportation, and leading the American Red Cross. She asked her supporters to pray for Hagan's successful transition to the Senate seat, but Dole said she's not ready for retirement.

And, in an apparent reference to Hagan's ads suggesting the senator spent little time in the state she represented, Dole added: "Salisbury has always been my rock of Gibraltar, and my home has always been Salisbury."

That was a reference to her famous speech at the 1996 presidential convention of her husband, Bob, whom she called her "rock of Gibraltar."

McCain's general election surrogates

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:20:59 -0500

Here's a mostly complete list of John McCain's surrogates in North Carolina for the general election:

Vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, wife Cindy, son Doug, U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, former Sen. Bob Dole, former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, former Arkansas Rep. Asa Hutchinson, Republican National Committee deputy chairman Frank Donatelli; Republican Party chairwoman Linda Daves, former N.C. Republican Party chairman Ferrell Blount, state Sen. Neal Hunt, House Minority Leader Paul Stam, state Reps. Ric Killian, Nelson Dollar and Harold Brubaker, Dr. Jeanne and David Smoot, country music singer Cowboy Troy, Nascar team owners Jack Roush and Joe Gibbs, former Nascar driver Richard Petty and former prisoner of war Col. J. Quincy Collins Jr.

A brief word on Palin crowd estimates

ryanteaguebeckwith — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 20:27:51 -0500

Dome underestimated the crowd at Sarah Palin's rally in Raleigh.

As a member of the traveling press pool, I followed the Alaska governor from her landing at the UPS terminal at the airport in a van motorcade to the event.

We arrived shortly before she spoke through a side entrance and left shortly after she finished. We did not hear the opening speech by former Sen. Bob Dole or stay to watch the crowds leave. We could not leave the cordoned-off press area to join the crowd or see the front of the building.

Multiple e-mailers have told me about the long lines that I did not see.

Complicating things was the fact the the McCain campaign does not provide crowd estimates. (The Obama campaign regularly sent an e-mail with a contact number for local police or fire representatives who had an estimate.) An attempt to reach the Raleigh police before deadline was unsuccessful.

My original story went with a vague "several thousands" in attendance, but I felt that was underselling it. After talking with some other reporters in the press pool, I guesstimated 5,000.

A local TV station estimated 10,000 in attendance. I don't know their methodology, but based on the reports I've gotten from other people in the crowd at the rally, the higher figure is probably more accurate.

Update: Police provided an official estimate late Sunday.

Joel Keith, chief of police for the N.C. Department of Agriculture, said 5,500 supporters were allowed inside the Exposition Center along with several hundred volunteers and VIPs. He said another 2,000 were in a cordoned-off area outside, and thousands more were turned away from the event.

"It's the largest crowd we've had there for any event except the State Fair," he said.

Bob Dole, Hagan at the fair

janestancill — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:19:07 -0400

Fairgoers will get a taste of U.S. Senate politics this afternoon, along with the deep-fried candy bars.

Former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, the 1996 GOP presidential nominee, will be at the Expo Center at 3:30 this afternoon campaigning for his wife, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, Rob Christensen reports

Democrat Senate candidate Kay Hagan is scheduled to be at the Democratic Party booth at the Fairgrounds at about 6:30 p.m.

Dole defends time spent in N.C.

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:47:12 -0400

Sen. Elizabeth Dole said accusations that she has not spent much time in North Carolina are misleading.

Her opponent, Democrat Kay Hagan, has said that Dole has been an absentee senator. A story in The Winston-Salem Journal, citing tax-paid travel records, found she spent only 13 days in the state in 2006, Rob Christensen reports.

But Dole says she often travels to the state on her own dime.

"I've been home constantly, whether it was a personal thing or whether it was my brother," Dole told The News and Observer editorial board this week. Her older brother died of cancer earlier this year.

"You don’' put out a press release every time you come home," Dole said. "I have paid for my own travel a great deal."

She said she should not be punished for paying her own way back to North Carolina.

She also said it was unfair to portray her as an outsider who has spent much of her life in Washington D.C. or in her husband Bob Dole's state of Kansas.

"In terms being from Kansas," Dole said, "what could be more untrue?"

"My roots are so deep in North Carolina," Dole said. "I could show you all the way back, many, many generations back. I grew up Salisbury, went to Salisbury high school. I went to Duke. I was on the Duke board for 11 years. I have a family business. Our farm has been turned into a real estate development just outside Salisbury."

E. Dole: Bob angry at Cleland

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:00:29 -0400

Sen. Elizabeth Dole said her husband hit the ceiling when he found out that former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland wrongly accused her last month of voting against the new G.I. bill giving benefits to veterans.

Both Cleland, a Democrat and former Sen. Bob Dole, a Republican, have a bond because both were grievously wounded war veterans, Rob Christensen reports.

At a news conference at VFW headquarters in Raleigh Cleland wrongly accused Elizabeth Dole of voting against the G.I. bill, during a campaign appearance with Democrat Kay Hagan. He corrected himself at a North Carolina event the next day.

"My husband went berserk on that one," Dole said. "To be honest, he called up Max and reminded him that he did not go into Georgia to campaign against him. Frankly, he resented Max coming in here aginst his wife. He said, 'Max, you didn't tell the truth.'"