Dole, Kemp Regroup In D.C.

WASHINGTON (Aug. 19) -- For a campaign that has just experienced three of the biggest, loudest, glitziest on-the-trail days of its existence, things have come down to a curious quiet.

Back home in Washington, the candidate offered this revelation about today's agenda.

"Regroup," Dole said, when asked what was on the schedule. "Regroup."

Aides say Dole spent most of his day attending to correspondence and other paperwork, while running mate Jack Kemp and company were busy moving into their eighth-floor offices at the downtown Dole-Kemp headquarters.

But while the candidates have shifted into public idle, the advertising peope have been busy.

Coffers full now for the fall campaign, the Dole people are prepared to dump the bulk of that money into the only medium they can use without danger of pesky interruptions -- the paid advertisement.

Look for one, coming soon to a battleground state near you, and expect to hear a lot about tax-cutting.

In fact, aides believe the tax-cut plan is the main reason for the shifting polls that show Dole gaining on Bill Clinton. As one Dole politico sees it, Kemp and the GOP convention gave the campaign energy and got people listening, but what they hear, what gets their support, is the economic plan.

There is evidence of that in the crowds. Even in Buffalo, people may have shown up because their former quarterback Kemp was there, but the cheers were for tax cuts: "Fifteen percent, 15 percent, 15 percent," the crowd chanted.

And certainly it has gotten the attention of the Clinton camp. "We're trying to put in perspective someone who got up and said, first as I say, that President Clinton passed the largest tax increase, which is historically...which is simply factually untrue, and then said the centerpiece of my campaign will be that I am now a tax-cutter," said Ann Lewis, deputy director of the Clinton-Gore campaign.

It is a subject the Dole campaign would be delighted to debate from now until Election Day. In politics, it hardly matters what the other side is saying so long as they are talking your issue.

Heavy reliance on ads will be coupled with heavy protection of Dole. Do not look for much that is spontaneous to happen over the next several weeks. In particular, what campaign handlers want is for Dole to get his message out without any questions from reporters. The last thing this campaign wants is for the messenger to mess up their message.

Dole, Kemp Regroup In D.C.

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