Dole stumps, takes lumps

GOP senatorial leader boosts vulnerable colleagues

BILLINGS, MONT. -- The wind chased clouds of brown dust across the endless Montana landscape, a view so different from the rolling green of North Carolina's Piedmont.

Volunteers tacked up fluttering banners for a campaign rally, and aides to Montana's junior senator prepped for the big event -- a visit by GOP superstar Elizabeth Dole, senator from North Carolina.

Hours later, she would stand next to Sen. Conrad Burns, a man under attack for his ties to a lobbying scandal, and call him a man of integrity.

"There's nowhere I'd rather be today," she said into the microphone, a "Conrad Burns" button pinned above her heart. She smiled at her host. "He's doing such a great job."

What with an unpopular war, an ethics scandal in Congress and low approval ratings for the White House, these are tough times for GOP Senate candidates. Burns, with close ties to former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, is among the vulnerable.

And that means tough times for Dole, who is trying to get Burns and all the other Republicans elected come November.

Since the 2004 election, she has been chairwoman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a national platform she won by convincing GOP colleagues she could keep the Senate in Republican control. She is responsible for recruiting candidates and raising tens of millions of dollars to pass around in the 33 races across the country this year.

But for months now, Dole has been criticized for her performance. She failed to persuade top GOP choices to enter races in several key states. And reports filed last week show her committee remains behind its Democratic counterpart in raising money. Dole defends her record, saying that she's been successful at finding dollars and that the party has outstanding candidates.

"We're doing well in an environment that's. ... " She paused. "You know, it's been a tough environment."

Despite the demands of the post, Dole insists she is taking care of North Carolina's business.

"I'm doing everything possible to make sure I'm in the state as much as possible," Dole said. She was in Winston-Salem on Thursday for the opening of a nonprofit senior center.

In Washington, Republicans desperately want to hold onto the Senate, where they have a five-seat majority. Democrats want control just as badly, and many observers think the minority party will at least gain a few seats.

Control matters. The party in power elects the majority leader, appoints committee chairmen and decides which bills and judicial nominees move forward -- and which languish without action.

Beyond her control

Dole could be blamed for any losses, and that is unfair, said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

"The committee and Senator Dole cannot control Iraq, gas prices and the response to Katrina," Sabato said. "She has become chair in a very difficult year for Republicans."

Recruiting problems began to surface last year. Dole failed to persuade top choices to enter races in North Dakota and West Virginia. And she couldn't keep a GOP challenger out of the primary race in Rhode Island, hurting incumbent Republican Lincoln Chafee.

In Florida, she couldn't find any Republicans beyond U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris -- she of the hanging chads in the 2000 presidential election -- to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson. Dole shunned Harris and tried repeatedly to find someone else to run.

"There's an example of a recruiting failure," Sabato said. "She [Harris] is going to lose, badly."

But he and others said Dole did find good candidates in the blue states of Maryland, Washington and Michigan.