Schneider's Political Play Of The Week

The Political Play Of The Week:
Elizabeth Dole

By Bill Schneider/CNN

SAN DIEGO (Aug. 16) -- Republicans witnessed a week of memorable performances here in San Diego -- by Colin Powell, Nancy Reagan, Susan Molinari, John McCain and the two nominees themselves.

But perhaps no performance was as remarkable as the image of Elizabeth Dole leaving the podium and mingling with the crowd: "Now you know, tradition is that speakers at the Republican National Convention remain at this very imposing podium," she said. "But tonight I'd like to break with tradition for two reasons. One, I'm going to be speaking to friends, and secondly, I'm going to be speaking about the man I love."

Down Elizabeth Dole went into the audience, giving a poised and accomplished performance that could have put any talk show host to shame. Bill Clinton does it all the time -- it's called breaking the barrier -- your speech becomes a conversation, even if, as in Mrs. Dole's case, you do all the talking.

Note she did it with no text, no notes, no teleprompter. When her body microphone failed, she handled a potentially awkward moment like a real pro: "I think we're having a little technical difficulty," she said calmly taking a hand-held microphone from a stage hand. "There we are," she cheerfully said.

Mrs. Dole was doing something known in certain religious traditions as "witnessing". She witnessed her husband's struggle: "When Bob was a boy, they had to move their family, parents and four children into the basement and rent out their small home, the upstairs, just to make ends meet."

His generosity: "Bob's raised millions of dollars to help people with disabilities."

Above all, she witnessed her husband's sacrifice: "He's been through adversity. He's known pain and suffering."

Sure, it looked and sounded like an infomercial -- for more information about this amazing man, just dial toll free number and we'll be happy to send you a brochure.

But it worked, politically, not because of what Mrs. Dole said, but what she did not say. She left viewers to conclude for themselves that any man married to a strong, accomplished woman who projects such great love for him cannot be insensitive or uncaring.

She also left viewers to draw their own comparisons with another accomplished professional woman -- Hillary Clinton -- who is far more controversial.

What we witnessed Wednesday night was a tough, shrewd and risky political squeeze back play -- the Play of the Week. And it seems to have paid off. Polls show Bob Dole making big gains among women voters this week.

In fact, the whole convention seems to have paid off just the way the convention managers wanted. They succeeded in creating an image of an open, inclusive party no longer controlled by hard-line conservatives -- not necessarily a more moderate party, mind you, but a party in which the struggling factions agree to disagree, at least for the time being.

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

Copyright © 1997 AllPolitics All Rights Reserved
Terms under which this information is provided to you