DOLE: VP NEED NOT OPPOSE ABORTION.Byline: Adam Nagourney Adam Nagourney (born October 10, 1954 in New York City) is an American journalist covering U.S. politics for The New York Times. Nagourney graduated with a B.A. from the State University of New York at Purchase in 1977. The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times In a gesture of conciliation conciliation: see mediation. to moderates in the Republican Party, Bob Dole said Monday that he could accept a running mate running mate n. 1. The candidate or nominee for the lesser of two closely associated political offices. 2. A companion. 3. A horse used to set the pace in a race for another horse. who supports abortion rights - even Christie Whitman, the New Jersey governor who parted with Dole to support President Clinton's veto of a ban on a type of late-term abortion late-term abortion Post-viability abortion Medical ethics Any abortion performed after the fetus would be viable if delivered to a nonspecialized health center. See Partial birth abortion. . Dole, appearing in New York on two morning talk shows at the start of a book promotion tour, said he would not disqualify To deprive of eligibility or render unfit; to disable or incapacitate. To be disqualified is to be stripped of legal capacity. A wife would be disqualified as a juror in her husband's trial for murder due to the nature of their relationship. potential running mates Running Mates could refer to:
``That may distress some people, but I am the nominee,'' Dole asserted on the ``Today'' show. ``I need to make the choice. And I need to find someone who can be president, if necessary, and we also need to win the election. And it's not very far away.'' The distance Dole was willing to go on the issue became clear after Regis Philbin suggested to the candidate, on the second stop of Dole's midtown morning interview tour, ``Live With Regis and Kathie Lee,'' that he select Whitman as a running mate. Philbin's co-host, Kathie Lee Gifford, interjected that Whitman did not share Dole's views on abortion, but Dole waved off her concern. ``That's all right,'' Dole said. ``My view is we can all be Republicans and have different views on different issues.'' When Philbin then inquired if a prospective vice president's position on abortion did not matter in Dole's decision, the candidate answered firmly: ``Not to mine. To others it might make some difference. But I'm the nominee.'' Dole's remarks on abortion were his latest attempt to appeal to independent voters who do not share his opposition to abortion and to distance himself, aides said, from forces in the Republican Party that President Clinton's campaign is trying to portray as extreme. But Dole's gambit on the vice presidency appeared to carry a greater risk than his earlier remarks on abortion. His selection of a possible successor seems certain to attract far more attention than the wording of the Republican platform, because Dole, if elected, will be 73 when he is inaugurated. Accordingly, conservative leaders were startled star·tle v. star·tled, star·tling, star·tles v.tr. 1. To cause to make a quick involuntary movement or start. 2. To alarm, frighten, or surprise suddenly. See Synonyms at frighten. and worried by Dole's latest remarks. Gary Bauer, president of the Family Research Council, noted there had been speculation that Dole might voluntarily serve one term, though Dole himself has sought to dampen this rumor. Bauer also pointed out that in any case, Dole's vice president would have the inside track on being the next Republican Party presidential nominee. ``Just as picking a high-tax running mate would outrage fiscal conservatives in the party, so will picking a pro-abortion running mate turn off the traditional values and pro-life wing of the party,'' Bauer said Monday. He said Dole was alienating conservative voters. ``The people that ought to be really pounding the pavement for Senator Dole are sitting back and sort of licking their wounds,'' he said. ``What I'm seeing is a conservative base that is sort of demoralized de·mor·al·ize tr.v. de·mor·al·ized, de·mor·al·iz·ing, de·mor·al·iz·es 1. To undermine the confidence or morale of; dishearten: an inconsistent policy that demoralized the staff. , and social-issue conservatives are sitting there fearful that the party is drifting away from its previous commitments.'' Ralph Reed, executive director of the Christian Coalition Christian Coalition, organization founded to advance the agenda of political and social conservatives, mostly comprised of evangelical Protestant Republicans, and to preserve what it deems traditional American values. , said Dole would make a mistake in not choosing a running mate who agrees with him on abortion rights. Reed said polling already has suggested that Dole, who has long been viewed suspiciously by social conservatives, was running more weakly than a Republican candidate should among self-declared evangelical Christians. For her part, Whitman, who has warmly praised Dole's decision to put a ``declaration of tolerance'' in the Republican platform, has said publicly that she does not want to be a candidate for vice president. Her press secretary, Becky Taylor, reiterated that position Monday, saying, ``She is not looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. the vice-presidential nomination.'' CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Republican presidential hopeful Bob Dole gives the th umbs-up sign to supporters in Atlantic City, N.J., including ``Mr. Peanut.'' Associated Press |
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