Dole's Decision Made, Will Call Veep Choice Tonight

RUSSELL, Kan. (CNN, Aug. 9) -- Sending the veep rumor mill into a near frenzy, likely GOP nominee Bob Dole told reporters aboard his campaign plane he knows who he will pick for a running mate. He plans to announce his choice tomorrow.

Asked if he had in mind the name of his running mate, Dole responded, "Oh yeah." When will he call the person he's selected, a reporter wanted to know. "Probably this evening," Dole said.

Dole made the remarks while talking to reporters on a flight from Washington to Salina, Kansas. He did not indicate who he had chosen but, asked if his selection would be a "10," Dole responded "probably an 11."

Who Will It Be? Media attention had focused on four names -- Michigan Gov. John Engler, Florida Sen. Connie Mack, Arizona Sen. John McCain, and former South Carolina Gov. Carroll Campbell. But Thursday afternoon came the revelation -- first leaked by anonymous Dole aides and later confirmed by Dole himself in a phone call with CNN's Robert Novak -- that GOP heavyweight Jack Kemp was on a three-man short list. Now he appears to be the top contender.

And The Associated Press reported that anonymous Dole sources said Kemp has informed campaign chief Scott Reed that he would accept the job if it were offered to him.

Before arriving in Russell, Dole delivered a brief speech at the Eisenhower Museum in Abilene, Kansas around 12:45 p.m. EST. The former president is a fixture for Dole, spokesman Nelson Warfield explains, because "he exemplifies the values that Bob Dole learned in Kansas and continues to live by today -- independence, self-reliance, trust in country and faith in God."

Dole told a friendly crowd, which included Eisenhower's children Julie and David, that had not come to Abilene to make a partisan speech. "I'm here as a Kansan who has come home to touch his roots, to draw strength from his family and friends and community, and to take heart in the life and legacy of a remarkable American hero who made a similar pilgrimage years ago."

But the political imagery was inescapable. Calling Eisenhower his military and political hero, Dole said the former president and World War II general had drawn inspiration from his Kansas roots.

"As always was the case, Eisenhower matched his words with action," Dole said, noting, "There have been four balanced budgets in the last half of the century, and the Eisenhower administration gave us three of them."

Dole, of course, in en route to San Diego to attend his coronation as GOP presidential nominee at the party's convention which begins officially Tuesday night. He is scheduled to arrive in the city Sunday.

Dole's Decision Made, Will Call Veep Choice Tonight

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