DOLE'S KEYNOTE CHOICE A SURPRISE : MOLINARI BACKS ABORTION RIGHTS.

Byline: Mary Jacoby Chicago Tribune 

Stepping off an airplane Tuesday, a feisty U.S. Rep. Susan Molinari of Staten Island insisted that her surprise selection as keynote speaker at next month's Republican convention was ``a lot larger than symbolism.''

Yet as the cameras rolled, the most enduring image was of Molinari's infant daughter dozing peacefully on her shoulder.

The picture explains why GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole is willing to risk the wrath of religious conservatives by selecting the politically moderate Molinari, who supports abortion rights, for the high-profile speech.

``It's obviously an attempt to redo the party's image for women voters,'' said political analyst Stuart Rothenberg. ``You have a party that has a major, major problem with women voters. You got a 72-year-old candidate. Molinari is a woman, young, energetic, partisan and a terrific presence in the media. That sounds pretty good to me.''

But the religious right was not pleased.

``It's almost a deliberate, in-your-face kind of thing,'' said Paul Weyrich, president of the Free Congress Foundation, a conservative group. Weyrich led an unsuccessful attempt last year to oust Sheila Burke, former Senate Majority Leader Dole's chief of staff, who supports abortion rights.

Dole, he predicted, ``could face a walkout of some delegates. . . . He will be defeated in November with that kind of'' choice for keynote speaker.

And Ralph Reed, executive director of the Christian Coalition, said, ``Our concern is that all the names that are being publicly circulated, both as speakers and as prominent vice presidential contenders, are either pro-choice or moderates.''

The choice of Molinari for the prime-time speech came as a surprise to most Republicans, including Molinari, who heard about her selection only after Dole announced it during a television appearance Monday. A friend who been watching TV paged her at a New York restaurant to deliver the news.

On Tuesday, Molinari, who is one-half of the only husband-wife team in Congress (her husband is fellow New York GOP Rep. Bill Paxon), was conciliatory.

``I think that what you're going to find is that after the fervor has died down, Senator Dole has reached what I think to be an important compromise'' on the party's abortion position, she said.

After wavering for weeks, Dole announced last week that the party's symbolic platform would contain language in the preamble that recognizes a diversity of views on the abortion issue. The decision seemed to quell - for now, at least - the emotional intraparty battle between the anti-abortion and abortion-rights factions.

In a pleasant surprise for the beleaguered Dole, his fiery presidential rival Pat Buchanan, who has made opposition to abortion a centerpiece of his campaign, followed Molinari's lead and offered conciliatory words.

``While we disagree (on abortion), Susan is an articulate, passionate voice inside our great and diverse party - against the high-taxes, big-government policies of the national Democrats,'' Buchanan said.

Some observers interpreted Buchanan's statement as an olive branch to the Dole campaign and speculated he may be building up a chit for use on a more important issue, such as selection of an anti-abortion vice president.

The lively Molinari is the consummate political creature. She won election to the New York City council at age 27. By 32, she was in Congress, having inherited the Staten Island seat from her father, former Rep. Guy Molinari, who retired.

Paxon is chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign and fund-raising arm of the House GOP. With the birth of Susan Ruby in May, the couple became the first married members of Congress to have a child while in office.

In the House, Molinari is an ally of Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., who backed her successful bid two years ago to become the No. 5 member of the House GOP leadership. Though some conservatives opposed her, Gingrich argued that the all-male and mostly anti-abortion leadership needed diversity.

In Congress, Molinari has been known as a fiscal conservative but a social moderate. She supports gun control but backs a balanced budget. Her ambitions have always been large.

``There are certain days that I wake up and say, `Yes! I can be president!' '' Molinari told the Associated Press in 1994.

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PHOTO Susan Molinari and her husband, Bill Paxon, both Hous e members from New York, speaks Tuesday of her GOP convention role.

Associated Press