Word: doled
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...debates changed no one's mind. Even now, so close in time, all that lingers is the memory of Dole's pillow punches--and Clinton's deftness at ignoring them. Near the end, a frustrated Dole struck at the media for being too liberal and at voters in general for failing to "wake up" to Clinton's shortcomings. As desperation reigned, Dole's down-ticket Republican colleagues fled their leader, which is likely to be recorded as a smart move indeed. The G.O.P.'s ability to retain control of the Congress resulted at least in part from arguing that...
...Could dole have run differently? Was victory ever in the cards? Perhaps if he had been himself, the difference too few Americans perceived may have resonated more profoundly. At each downturn in his fortunes, Dole promised that "from now on, you'll see the real Bob Dole." In retrospect it seems that the real Bob Dole emerged only once: when he resigned from the Senate. It was a moment when he could have tacked many ways. He was fond of saying that "in a record of more than 12,000 votes, you can make a case for just about anything...
...Dole could have run as the hardheaded but scarcely harsh politician his 35-year congressional career proved him to be. He could probably have won the votes of more women by sticking to his call for "tolerance" in the G.O.P.'s abortion plank. He could have avoided the tax-cut scheme that colored him as just another pandering pol, even though he seemed genuinely to have been converted to supply-side theory by the time 15% became his battle cry in August. He could have built on his critical 1983 participation in the commission that saved Social Security by speaking...
Perhaps, given his amazing glibness, Clinton would have won in any case. But as remarkable and professional and airtight as the President's campaign was, the verdict at this remove is that Dole lost...
...stump those last days, Bob Dole's campaign was more local than national--the taped Sousa marches, the town bigwig at the mike vamping in front of an audience in elephant hats. Then Dole would come out from behind the stage, parting the polyester-blue curtain, and enact the body language of victory--thumb up, quick-flash smile, the arm that doesn't hold the pen punching the air in a go-get-'em arc. The crowd would always stand and applaud. "We love you, Bob!" someone would yell, and the unmuffled sound would echo too well, because the hall...