Mrs. Dole Stays On Message

NEW YORK (July 1) -- Across America, Elizabeth Dole campaigns and delivers her stump speech like a talk show host working the crowd. It's different than what most voters are used to. Then again Elizabeth Dole is a most unusual woman.

In 28 years in Washington, she has served under four presidents, worked at numerous government jobs and is the only woman appointed to two different Cabinet positions in two different administrations. Now she would like to add another title to her resume.

"That's the goal, where you can make a difference, where you can find those areas that you might be able to give your time and energy to truly make a difference," Mrs. Dole said. "I feel very privileged I've had that opportunity at the transportation department, the labor department, the Red Cross and of course, the role of first lady certainly gives you that opportunity."

Her husband is a booster, of course. He says there is "absolutely no doubt she will be the greatest first lady in America's history."

Bob Dole versus Bill Clinton may be the main event, but Elizabeth Dole versus Hillary Clinton is an interesting matchup as well. Candidate Dole even suggested the two women should square off in a debate.

On a question whether she and the first lady are friends, Mrs. Dole said, "We really don't cross paths, but on the few occasions that we have, we've got along fine." (64K WAV sound)

Both are former college class presidents, Ivy League-educated lawyers and Methodists. They have both flip-flopped their party affiliations. Each has had their finances investigated. But Mrs. Dole doesn't buy the idea she and Mrs. Clinton share much in common.

"She's a very capable person, a smart person," said Mrs. Dole. "She's dedicated to doing what she feels right for the country, but we're very different in that she's a liberal and I am a mainstream conservative. She believes in more government like health care, which would be a massive new bureaucracy." (256K WAV sound)

Asked to comment on a TIME magazine report that, according to friends, Elizabeth Dole and Hillary Clinton are obsessed with each other, Mrs. Dole chuckled. "Absolutely untrue," she said.

Mrs. Dole is on leave of absence from her job as president of the Red Cross during the campaign. But regardless of the outcome in November, she promises she will return to run the Red Cross.

"When my husband is elected president -- not if but when -- I guess that will make me the first working first lady," she told one group.

Says Carl Anthony, an historian who focuses on first ladies, "She'd be an interesting combination of a kind of modern yet traditional kind of first lady." But, he says, as ideal as the situation sounds, "...there's inevitably going to be some kind of conflict of interest." She says that's "really kind of stretching it."

It's the fourth time she has left her job, or taken a leave, to campaign for her husband. She describes herself as a surrogate speaker for the Dole presidential campaign. After all she's knows the candidate well, she's polished and always on message.

"This particular election is a defining moment in the history of this nation," Mrs. Dole frequently says. "It's about the character of our country as we move into the next century."

Yet she's more than a surrogate speaker. She also advises her husband on policy and helps develop campaign strategy. Says Anthony: "She has played a very important advisory role not only in policy as Hillary Clinton played, but also in sort of general management."

Every four years her name seems to be mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate, but Dole says she's not interested this time around. "That would be very unusual, wouldn't it, it would be different," she chuckles. "It'd be different to have a Dole-Dole ticket."

"She would probably meet the test, no doubt about it," candidate Dole said. "If I weren't, if somebody else was running, she'd probably be on everybody else's short list."

Monday afternoon Elizabeth Dole began another campaign swing, this time with her husband on their campaign to the White House. It's a place she has had her eyes on for a long time.

This story originally appeared on CNN's "Inside Politics."

Mrs. Dole Stays On Message

Related Stories: