ASHINGTON -- Three months after losing the race for campaign cash to George W. Bush, Elizabeth Dole plans to endorse the Texas governor this week to bolster his bid for the GOP presidential nomination in the New Hampshire and Iowa contests, the Bush campaign said today.
Mrs. Dole will endorse Bush on Tuesday during appearances in both states, said Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer. Mrs. Dole's associates have urged her for weeks to endorse Bush and said this is the perfect time to help him. They hope an endorsement elevates her chances to be Bush's running mate, though officials in both camps say no guarantees have been made.
"Elizabeth Dole has an appeal to all voters," Fleischer said. "She's one of the few people in the business who is liked by all wings of the party and independent voters. She is one of the few people who, when she makes an endorsement, it can move people."
Fleischer said Mrs. Dole would help the Republican Party close the "gender gap." In general, women support the Democratic party more than the GOP.
Asked whether Dole would make a good vice presidential running mate, Fleischer said "It's premature even to speculate about that."
Mrs. Dole dropped out of the race in October, her campaign nearly broke and before any votes were cast. More than 100 fund-raisers had netted her only $5 million, less than one-tenth of Bush's record-breaking bankroll at that time. Although in second place in many national polls -- she hovered around 10 percent -- she trailed Arizona Sen. John McCain in New Hampshire and lagged well behind Bush everywhere.
Dole's endorsement would help Bush attract women to his campaign. Married suburban mothers especially are considered critical swing votes in the general election and early polls show Bush leading all candidates among that group.
A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted after Mrs. Dole dropped out Oct. 20 showed that Bush's support among Republican-leaning women jumped 13 percentage points to 68 percent after her departure. She had the support of 14 percent of women before leaving the race, though it's impossible to say his gains were from her supporters.
As for her prospects for the GOP vice presidential slot, Bush is said to favor prospects who have been elected officeholders. Mrs. Dole is a two-time Cabinet member and former president of American Red Cross but had never sought elective office before her failed 1999 bid.
McCain spokesman Howard Opinsky said the senator holds Mrs. Dole in high regard and has attracted former Dole backers who like his stand on campaign finance reform.
"Voters have been flocking to Senator McCain because of his message, not because of his bank account or list of endorsements," Opinsky said.
Although her husband, Bob, remains close to McCain following his failed 1996 presidential bid, Elizabeth Dole's associates have long harbored suspicions that McCain's camp spread rumors that she was going to drop out. McCain's forces denied the charge, but the rumors hurt her campaign well before she finally withdrew.
Citing her lack of "money, money, money," Dole in October abandoned her effort to become the nation's first female president.
"You can't run on air," she complained on CNN's "Larry King Live." "The message is money and that's too bad, because that really diminished the process."
