ASHINGTON - Elizabeth Dole is angrily denying rumors, which her aides say are being spread by the rival camps of Senator John McCain and Steve Forbes, that she is about to drop her historic bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
Dole is ''outraged'' by reports circulating in New Hampshire this week that she is running out of money, canceling appearances and charter flights, and will soon end her campaign, her press secretary, Kathleen Harrington, said yesterday.
''Why would they do this kind of thing?'' Dole asked when told of the rumors, Harrington said.
Harrington said there was ''no truth'' to the reports, and noted that the candidate was heading to San Diego today to give a speech advocating a get-tough approach to drugs, before fund-raising for two days in California and McCain's home state of Arizona. Dole will campaign in Iowa next week.
''I am out there running hard, working hard,'' Dole told reporters yesterday after speaking to 600 businesswomen at a fund-raising lunch in Lexington, Ky. Dole, in the speech, criticized the Justice Department for filing a lawsuit against tobacco companies, seeking to recover billions of dollars that taxpayers have spent on smoking-related health care.
Harrington said that because Dole is running second to Governor George W. Bush of Texas in most national polls, ''it is clearly in the interest of McCain and Forbes to knock us out'' and be positioned as the most likely alternative if the GOP front-runner falters. She also suggested McCain has a gender gap - he is more popular with men than women voters - and would like to see the only female candidate leave the race.
''McCain's people have been very overt, telling people the Dole campaign is falling apart,'' said Ari Fleischer, Dole's former spokesman. ''I think some of these male candidates are frustrated to be losing to a woman like Elizabeth Dole. So they engage in the art of discrediting their opponent.''
McCain's spokesman, Howard Opinsky, denied his campaign was spreading rumors of Dole's demise and insisted its focus is only on the senator. ''This campaign is not about other candidates, it's about getting out the message of John McCain,'' Opinsky said, adding that McCain was now topping Dole in polls in New Hampshire, New York, and South Carolina.
Greg Mueller, a Forbes adviser, called it ''a bunch of nonsense'' that the publisher's campaign would undermine Dole. ''We feel that this is, by and large, down to a two-person race between an establishment candidate and the conservative alternative, which Forbes has become,'' Mueller said. ''I have no idea what Mrs. Dole's intentions are, but we encourage her to stay in the race.''
Despite her denials, some key Republicans still are not convinced Dole is serious about continuing her presidential campaign, the first by a Republican woman. They say Dole failed to capitalize on her third-place finish in the Iowa straw poll in August and has been unimpressive in raising money, bringing in $1.7 million in the last three months. Dole has not officially declared her candidacy, either, an event that aides have now pushed back to November from October.
Thomas Rath, a New Hampshire GOP committeeman who is supporting Bush, said sources close to the Dole campaign - not those in a rival camp - have told him that Dole is running out of money and will withdraw from the race by the end of the week. According to Rath, Dole has about $200,000 on hand, not the $850,000 the campaign reported last week.
''Mrs. Dole has labored mightily, but there is no easy way to say it: If you don't have the money, you can't go on,'' said Rath, who had been an adviser to former Tennessee governor Lamar Alexander before he left the GOP race because he lacked money.
Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, Dole's finance chairman, said yesterday the Dole campaign has close to $850,000 in the bank - ''though I wish it was $85 million.'' McElveen-Hunter said she is organizing fund-raising events through December and into January, a sign that Dole is in the race, at least through the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.
Still, McElveen-Hunter acknowledged the perception that Dole is preparing to drop out of the race makes money-raising harder. ''Nobody wants to give to a candidate they believe is going to pull out of the race,'' McElveen-Hunter said.
Tomorrow, Dole will be in Phoenix for a fund-raiser and to get the endorsement of Mayor Skip Rimsza. ''We're going into McCain's territory, and we aren't ceding it to him,'' Harrington said.
