Politics

Dole Laments Money's Role

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

October 20, 1999 / 9:51 AM EDT / CBS

Elizabeth Dole's announcement that she was quitting the presidential race came as a shock to her supporters. What she didn't see was her disappointed husband, Bob, at times tearing up as he stood behind her.

"He really cares deeply. He believes so much in me," she told CBS News Correspondent Phil Jones. "I'm blessed with a beautiful marriage - no question - and he really has urged me to run since the end of the 96' campaign. He's been out there in speeches, on television saying Elizabeth ought to do this and so I think it probably did touch him today that 'this is it.'"

In a CBS News interview, Mrs. Dole said her decision all came down to money.

"Let's face it: George W. Bush quietly and effectively starting at the end of the '96 campaign sort of scooped up all of the traditional Republican fundraisers," she said. "This is sort of a phenomenon that we haven't seen before and may never see again. Obviously, timing is everything.

"So I come along in a cycle where you've got Steve Forbes with an unlimited amount of resources, his own private resources, and Bush with this phenomenon and it's like 75-to-one in terms of the odds here," the former Red Cross president added. "I've faced a lot of odds in my life but this one is overwhelming."

According to a CBS News poll, she leaves the race in a second-place tie with Sen. John McCain of Arizona for her party's nomination, far behind Bush. Dole joins three other high profile Republican presidential candidates who also ran out of money and quit.

"When money becomes the message, when that just becomes predominate, other messages just don't get through," Mrs. Dole said, "like your strong organization in Iowa, the fact that you have a lot of experience to bring to the table - 30 years - the fact that you're bringing a lot of new people to the party, into the political process."

CBS
Elizabeth and Bob Dole

Steve Forbes was the one who started huge primary spending by bankrolling his own candidacy in 1996 and now again in 2000. He claimed, "My resources help level the playing field against the establishment."

Front-runner Bush, with his unprecedented $60 million raised, was appropriately gracious following the announcement. "She's a trailblazer," he said. She's an inspiration for a lot of women.

"I hope that we've helped to pave the way [for a woman president] and I do believe that we've moved it forward," Mrs. Dole said.

With a near-wistful nod to te historic implications, President Clinton called Dole's departure from the race "a loss to the Republican Party and a loss to the country that she couldn't go forward."