Only the names are the same

By Mary Leonard, Globe Staff, January 6, 1999

WASHINGTON -- Dole and Clinton could be the big campaign names of 2000, just as they were in 1996. The significant difference, however, would be watching Bob and Bill play the supporting-spouse roles to their star-candidate wives.

Elizabeth Dole, a Republican, said this week that she is considering a run for president in 2000, the same job her husband pursued in 1996. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton has not hushed -- nor has she confirmed -- rumors that she will seek the Senate seat of retiring New York Democrat Daniel Patrick Moynihan next year.

"I kind of think he feels he'd make a great first spouse," Mrs. Dole, the retiring head of the American Red Cross, said of her husband on the "Today" show yesterday. As for President Clinton, many believe his character and behavior have created opportunities for credentialed and disciplined women candidates like Mrs. Dole and even his wife.

Marie Wilson, president of the White House Project, an eight-month-old effort aimed at putting a woman on a presidential ticket by 2008, says a year of scandal in, and frustration with, Washington has dramatically changed the political climate so that being different -- in voice, vision, leadership style, and gender -- is a plus and a reason for excitement.

"Women who ran for president or vice president before -- Margaret Chase Smith, Shirley Chisholm, Geraldine Ferraro, and Patricia Schroeder -- stepped into a climate where people laughed and said, 'You're different,' " said Wilson, who heads the Ms. Foundation for Women in Manhattan. "Nobody was snickering yesterday at Mrs. Dole because today voters are dying for someone who is different."

In a poll done for the White House Project, 76 percent of those asked said they would vote for a woman president. But there would be high hurdles for Mrs. Dole in a national race and Mrs. Clinton in a statewide contest. Neither of them has ever run for public office, and Dole was not tested on policy issues in her Red Cross tenure. Clinton could turn out to be as polarizing a candidate as she once was in the White House, and she has never been a resident of New York.

Still, both Dole and Clinton are taken as serious contenders because they are, in their own right, nationally known, tireless campaigners, excellent fund-raisers, articulate speakers, and experienced public policy advocates. Dole has been a Cabinet secretary in two administrations and is credited, in her eight-year tenure, with performing a rescue operation on the faltering Red Cross. Clinton came off the 1998 congressional campaigns as the Democratic Party's most effective spokeswoman.

They also are spouses admired for standing by their husbands in their darkest days. Mrs. Dole was viewed as a better campaigner than her husband during his bid for the White House in 1996. Mrs. Clinton's popularity soared last year as she took a traditional role of defending the president and enduring a sex scandal and impeachment.

In a recent Vanity Fair magazine article, Mrs. Clinton and Mrs. Dole, along with Tipper Gore, topped the list of female 'Legends, Leaders, and Trailblazers." A June USA Today poll found that Mrs. Dole would soundly defeat the first lady in a presidential matchup and be tied with Vice President Al Gore.

"In the past, wives of politicians came to power over their dead husbands' bodies," said Debbie Walsh, associate director of the Center for the American Woman and Politics at Rutgers University. "What we're experiencing here is a historic moment when a different kind of political wife moves ahead on her own to forge an independent career."

Walsh, whose center tracks the progress of women in public office, said both Dole and Clinton are potentially very viable candidates. "We know that when women are competitive, they do win," she said.

"This isn't about her being vice president," said Linda DiVall, a Republican pollster. "This is about a woman with class, stature, and impeccable professional and personal credentials making a serious commitment to a presidential campaign."

Timing is everything in politics, and Dole is expected to take advantage of an electorate that says it is more interested in issues like education, health care, and Social Security than the budget or the military. "The issues in ascendency are ones where women are seen as having expertise and credibility," Wilson said.

Dole also has the potential to unite the Republican factions behind a presidential candidacy, analysts say. Because of her personal accomplishments, she also could attract Democratic and independent women voters and close the gender gap that hurts Republicans in national and statewide races, GOP activist Ann Stone said.

"Mrs. Dole is obviously not on our side of the fence, but she is not a kook, either," said Stone, national chairwoman of Republicans for Choice, a political action committee that backs GOP candidates who support abortion rights. "We see her as a bridge, an advocate for common ground on abortion. We believe we could work with her."

Carmen Pate, president of Concerned Women for America, a conservative group, said "a woman is capable of being president" as long as her ideology is conservative and she demonstrates character and integrity. Pate said it was too early to address Dole's positions on issues.

"Obviously, just being a woman isn't going to be enough to succeed," said Charles Cook, a political commentator.

Dole will have a chance to perform in New Hampshire on Feb. 8, when the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce honors her as its citizen of the year. With an expected audience of 800, the event might be a prime moment for her to announce a presidential candidacy in the first-primary state. [CORRECTION - DATE: Friday, January 8, 1999: CORRECTION: A Page One story on Wednesday mischaracterized the import of Elizabeth Dole's appearance before the Greater Manchester (N.H.) Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 8. She will not be the recipient of the chamber's citizen of the year award; she will be the keynote speaker at the dinner.]

"I think she would be received quite well, and she would be considered a serious candidate," said Thomas Schwieger, the chamber president. New Hampshire has a woman governor, Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, and a woman House speaker, Republican Donna Sytek.

For now, Dole is keeping her own counsel, as is Clinton. Senator Robert Torricelli, a New Jersey Democrat and the head of the party's Senate campaign committee, is promoting the first lady for the New York seat that Robert F. Kennedy once held. The White House called it speculation.

Still, The New York Times published an editorial yesterday warning the first lady that winning in New York would be no cakewalk, while welcoming her in.

"The more the merrier," the Times wrote, "including those who move to New York to find work."

Michael Kranish of the Globe staff contributed to this report.