< Previous page
Next page >

"The other thing recently hurting her has been raising funds," said Johnson, chief executive officer of Strategic Vision of Atlanta. "You could say that's been her one big drawback, and it's carried over into her Senate career."

Dole received the senatorial committee post days after Bush won re-election in November 2004. In a secret ballot among GOP senators, she defeated Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota by a single vote. At the time, Coleman argued that he could raise more cash.

But Dole, whose husband, Bob, was a senator from Kansas and a two-time presidential candidate, had plenty of experience and a vast Rolodex.

"People know her," said Mark Stephens, Dole's former campaign manager and a consultant from Raleigh, who now is the NRSC's executive director. "When her name's on the outside of the envelope, it gets opened. When her voice is on the other end of the phone, they take the call."

Fundraising seesaws

As chairwoman, she started a women's fundraising network, raised the committee's number of small-dollar donors through a direct-mail program and increased the committee's fundraising over the last election cycle. The committee has 33 percent more cash on hand now than it did at the same time two years ago, said Brian Nick, the committee spokesman.

Still, reports released last week show more money across the aisle. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee says it raised $6.9 million in March and has $32.1 million on hand.

The GOP committee raised $5 million in March; it has $16.5 million in the bank, Nick said.

Dole tries to shake off the party's bad news on the war and approval ratings.

"I've said, 'Put the blinders on. Stay focused,' " she said, holding both hands by her eyes. "We know what our goal is."

She has visited more than half a dozen states, focusing on the tight races, and she will travel more as November nears.

Her job officially puts her in the Senate GOP's inner circle, which meets at least once a week and routinely with staff at the White House. That gives her the chance, she said, to push state issues and strengthen Senate relationships.

Just recently, Dole pushed Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to schedule a long-stalled vote on a judicial nominee from North Carolina, Terrence Boyle. Frist is now considering a vote in May.

Bill Peaslee, chief of staff for the N.C. Republican Party, sees Dole earning political chits through her national role. And if she keeps the Senate in Republican hands, he said, she's helping North Carolinians.

"Elizabeth Dole doesn't have to be in North Carolina to be serving North Carolina's interests," Peaslee said.

If the job gives her access and influence, it also puts her in the position of standing up for characters whom other politicians might not want to be associated with.

Burns' liabilities

Burns, her Montana host, took more money from fallen lobbyist Abramoff and his associates than any other member of Congress, according to reports. Burns, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for the Interior, recently returned the money. But he is under scrutiny from federal investigators.

Last week Time magazine named Burns one of the nation's five worst senators, calling him not only questionable ethically but ineffective as well.

Newsweek just ran a feature on the three-term senator's ties to Abramoff. The former lobbyist has pleaded guilty to numerous charges, including conspiracy to bribe public officials, and he is cooperating with investigators.

< Previous page
Next page >