ASHINGTON - Elizabeth Dole announced yesterday that she would formally launch her bid for the Republican presidential nomination next month, squelching rumors that she was about to drop out of the 2000 race.
Dole said in a statement that she would kick off her campaign officially Nov. 7 in Des Moines.
''It's exactly one year before the first presidential election of the new millennium and our selection of that date reflects my sense that we will make history,'' Dole said.
Dole, who served as secretary of transportation and secretary of labor under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, has been campaigning since leaving her post as president of the American Red Cross last January. However, she repeatedly pushed back the date for her formal announcement.
Like the rest of the Republican field, Dole has found it difficult to raise money in the face of an unprecedented fund-raising machine assembled by the Republican front-runner, Texas Governor George W. Bush.
Dole, wife of former Senate majority leader and defeated 1996 Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole, ended the third quarter of the year with $850,000 cash on hand, compared with $37 million for Bush.
A number of officials, including her press secretary, recently left her campaign, giving rise to rumors in political circles that she might soon drop her bid.
After beginning the year challenging Bush for the lead in the polls, she sank back into the pack and has been overtaken for second and third place by Senator John McCain of Arizona and publisher Steve Forbes in some key states, including New Hampshire.
Seen as the most serious female presidential candidate in US history, Dole often evokes an enthusiastic response from her audiences on the campaign trail, especially from women.
While most voters say the country is ready to elect a woman to be president, about a third of Republicans disagree, according to polling data.
