Dole Says He's A "Party Animal"

By Bruce Morton and Louise Schiavone/CNN

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, March 28) -- The Republicans said they were going to talk about the legislative agenda for Congress.

But what they did today was hold a first-class pep rally, with House Speaker Newt Gingrich leading the cheers and introducing the man of the hour, Sen. Robert Dole.

"I now regard myself as the junior partner," Gingrich said. "He is the nominee of this party."

And Dole, relaxed in the place where he is most at home, responded with an olive branch for Texas billionaire Ross Perot, who worries Republicans with all his coy talk of a Reform Party bid for the White House (165K AIFF or WAV sound) .

"Ross Perot might hear us...Look at what we've done. We have been the party of change, we will be the party of change," Dole said.

He offered a friendly one-liner for one-time opponent Texas. Sen. Phil Gramm.

Dole noted that two days after Gramm dropped out, he was in New Hampshire, campaigning for Dole. "We lost New Hampshire, come to think of it."," Dole joked.

Dole wants to make this a party battle, not just a fight between himself and President Bill Clinton. "There are fundamental differences between the two parties, starting with the balanced budget, a tax cut, welfare reform," he said (116K AIFF or WAV sound) .

And he invited everyone to join the cause. "We do have a team of thousands and thousands and thousands of people -- and they're all on my short list for vice president," he said to laughter.

Part of the purpose behind the rally was to present a unified front and head off internal squabbling. Some on the Republican right have criticized Dole in the past as too willing to bargain with the president.

"This is a family," Dole said. "And I'm a party animal. I believe in the Republican Party."

Democratic leaders, talking mostly about legislation they can't pass, sounded grumpy when they reacted to the GOP message. They attacked the Republicans first as extremists, then as incompetent do-nothings.

"I think it really tests Bob Dole's leadership," said House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt. "And the test is, can he rein in the extreme elements of his own party to do things that are moderate and sensible. Now I don't think he can do that (116K AIFF or WAV sound) ."

Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle and Gephardt told reporters that the GOP claims to have new ideas but that the party today is nothing more than "Herbert Hoover in a leisure suit (116K AIFF or WAV sound)."

They charged that Republicans have declared war on working families by obstructing progress on a minimum wage increase and health care reform.

Daschle and Gephardt insisted that Democrats have been willing to compromise on controversial spending issues all along, while Republicans have all but told them it's "their way or the highway."

Strategists have been wondering how Dole will campaign during the months before the GOP convention. Maybe it will be Senate pep rallys once a week. The candidate seems to like them.

The Turning Point?

Gingrich, in a speech to a group of health professionals, said today that Clinton's veto of the Republican budget this past winter will be his undoing as the presidential race heats up this fall.

Gingrich said the veto "was the historic turning point."

"It was the moment the American political structure began to act like adults and began to care about their kids again and not just sell out to selfishness every morning," Gingrich said.

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