Veepstakes: A Dirty, Bloody Battle
BARNES, FRED
Veepstakes: A Dirty, Bloody Battle By Fred Barnes The problem with a Republican ticket of Bob Dole and Michigan governor John Engler is the image it projects, says a close associate of Ohio...
...At least a half-dozen prominent Republicans are running to be Dole's choice...
...You can tell they're part of the campaign because other candidates or their handlers take swipes at them...
...Engler, exploiting his perch as president of the Republican Governors' Association, has flooded Washington with press releases ("RGA Chairman Governor Engler Praises Dole For Taking On Judicial Activism") and a glossy brochure...
...To cope, Engler had to establish what is, in effect, a campaign organization...
...Voinovich supposedly has instructed aides not to promote him for the vice presidency...
...Dole needs to name a running mate who will make voters say, "Mmmmm, that's pretty interesting," says Jay Smith, and he believes Powell would do that...
...His former wife, Colleen, who now works for the International Republican Institute in Washington, saw a story about the divorce in the Free Press and called the reporter who wrote it...
...That might be a one-day story, max," Rusbuldt says...
...Soon Engler's plummeting prospects began to pick up again, partly because of a windfall...
...Voinovich adviser Greg Stevens produced a 12-minute video touting Voinovich and sent it to 1,500 folks in the political community, including Dole...
...McCain backed Dole's decision to support President Clinton and the deployment of 20,000 soldiers...
...His gubernatorial press secretary, John Truscott, would handle policy questions...
...That's a question that only John can answer," she said...
...And it's no wonder...
...You can cherry-pick Michigan," says Rusbuldt...
...When Dole spoke on the floor, McCain sat in front of him in the parliamentarian's section...
...Sure, South Carolina is a safe Republican state, but Campbell brings the entire South, where Dole is shaky today...
...What's the picture...
...The McCain candidacy has a completely different basis: He's a war hero and Vietnam POW with whom Dole is strikingly comfortable...
...More characteristic was the sly mention to me by one candidate's adviser of two unfavorable stories about Voinovich in Ohio newspapers...
...The person who transformed the vice-presidential selection process is not Dole or any of the hopefuls, but Stevens...
...Engler has had more than a video bedeviling him...
...Mike DeWine of Ohio, who is not likely to be acting without Voinovich's full knowledge...
...And Carroll Campbell, God bless him, doesn't have legs in Tennessee...
...But Abraham hasn't intervened with Dole on Engler's behalf yet, nor has DeWine for Voinovich...
...That makes the difference...
...Naturally, they denounced it (while probably wishing they had put one out first...
...Engler's strongest ally in Washington, Sen...
...McCain was moved...
...He'd go after Democrats with incredible zeal...
...His role was critical in Dole's breakthrough victory in the South Carolina primary in March...
...Engler partisans give as good as they get...
...The Detroit Free Press submitted a list of 20 questions about his personal life, which included: "Have you ever been in a fistfight...
...California attorney general Dan Lungren held a reception in Washington...
...But my guess is if Powell takes even a small step toward running, he'll face exactly what the other veep candidates have: more criticism than he's ever experienced before...
...He also recruited a number of governors to the Dole campaign...
...Lungren "loved it," says Smith...
...Stevens says he "acted in violation of that...
...Because of his numerous and highly visible trips to Washington, his TV appearances, and the public-relations offensive by his allies, Engler had emerged by early April as the front-runner for the vice presidency...
...The trashing is usually left to aides, but Illinois governor Jim Edgar actually did it himself...
...As for himself, perish the thought: "I'm not interested and don't want it...
...I don't know...
...Apparently, you can do that...
...That helped give Dole political cover...
...The race will be within three points...
...Meanwhile, GOP consultant Jay Smith, a pal of Sen...
...Second, there's a plethora of Republicans actively interested in being picked by Dole, and each needs to differentiate himself from the pack...
...Dole people will tell you the savior of their campaign was Carroll Campbell," says Bob Rusbuldt, who runs Campbell's political action committee, Victory America...
...Edgar's criticism was unusual...
...Pero, now managing Michi-gander Jim Nicholson's senatorial bid, is doing this as an unpaid volunteer...
...He's an impressive guy...
...But, like McCain, Campbell has a Dole card to play...
...This brought a new level of scrutiny for which Engler was not prepared...
...Joblessness, for example, has been lower than the national average in Michigan for 27 straight months...
...Stevens says Lungren wouldn't guarantee Dole carries California...
...Colleen House was quoted as saying she was no longer bitter about the divorce and had voted twice for Engler for governor...
...Now, House speaker Newt Gingrich talks up Lungren, a Catholic and a conservative...
...The last poll showed Voinovich adding three points [to Dole] in Ohio...
...What's striking about the vice-presidential race is how public it is-and how nasty...
...Spencer Abraham of Michigan, happens to be Dole's favorite GOP freshman...
...Murphy says Lungren is "actively campaigning while denying it...
...Early this year, he took footage from a 1990 interview with Voinovich and his wife, Janet, spliced it together with news film, and produced a video called "Governor George Voinovich-Working Harder, Working Smarter...
...Three reasons...
...They think a southern moderate is what people want," says ex-George Bush operative Mary Matalin, who ought to know...
...Cross off one potential obstacle to the unofficial and unacknowledged bid by Gov...
...I just haven't been able to figure out how to do that...
...She's married to James Carville, Clinton's political adviser...
...McCain has this to say about the phenomenon: "Some of those not running are sending out their r?sum?s...
...McCain says attracting Powell is still possible...
...There's only one person all the vice-presidential camps agree would be a powerhouse partner for Dole, and that's Colin Powell...
...But won't his job as a Washington lobbyist detract...
...He's pro-life but not offensive to pro-choice people...
...Nor do I really want to do that...
...You can cherry-pick Ohio...
...Engler remarried in 1990 and his wife recently had triplets...
...He's still talking about it," says Stevens...
...Or at least, he was the media-anointed front-runner...
...The new rule for vice-presidential politics is this: It's not enough to play up your attributes-you must destroy your rivals...
...Columnist Mark Shields hammered him for not serving in Vietnam...
...DeWine, who backs Voinovich, says only Powell "changes the dynamics of the race in every state, including Ohio, overnight...
...Campbell brings you a whole region...
...And several are running hard, dispatching allies to talk them up and snipe at rivals...
...Worse, "nobody's heard of him...
...To pay for it, Stevens used funds from Voinovich's burgeoning war chest for a Senate race in 1998 against Democrat John Glenn...
...I've never known Sheila Burke to do anything that wasn't at the direction of Bob Dole or in his interest," McCain says...
...Abraham is, however, happy to make the case to everyone else...
...Of course, no one admits to such a breathless quest, or to engaging in negative tactics...
...Nor is Engler "running for it," claims Murphy...
...Still, Voinovich loved the video...
...What," asks Jay Smith, "does he bring...
...That's not quite what Dole people say, but they are grateful to Campbell...
...The Washington Times wrote about his divorce in 1987...
...But, Murphy adds, "there's a lot of respect for him in the Dole campaign...
...Campbell...
...So does Sen...
...Despite Voinovich's putative orders, Stevens continues to distribute the video and push the governor for vice president...
...It probably is...
...Of course not...
...All they found was a "chronology" of his physicals and changes in draft status...
...I don't know how, particularly, John Engler finds the time he spends-an inordinate time to me- in Washington," Edgar told Richard L. Berke of the New York Times...
...But it was the video that stirred the other candidates in the top tier-Engler, McCain, Campbell- into action...
...But does it matter to me now...
...He sought "to derail those who would cut off funding while John McCain was in a little box over there in prison...
...Matalin says he won't "unless he wants a divorce...
...Backing him is safe because he's not running, now anyway...
...Carroll Campbell is not going to be producing any Hollywood video on why he should be vice president," says Campbell adviser Rusbuldt...
...And he'd give the ticket the ability to argue that Republican ideas on growth and opportunity, which have succeeded in Michigan, are bound to work nationally...
...Veepstakes: A Dirty, Bloody Battle By Fred Barnes The problem with a Republican ticket of Bob Dole and Michigan governor John Engler is the image it projects, says a close associate of Ohio governor George Voinovich...
...He kept his promise...
...There's a final item about Campbell that's not in the talking points: President Clinton fears him...
...What else is there to talk about...
...Murphy argues that Republicans are "going to win South Carolina anyway...
...The rule of thumb that you don't campaign for the vice presidency has been violated beyond repair this year...
...But moments after he agreed in 1994 to back Gramm, McCain rushed to Dole's office to promise never to say an unkind word about him...
...Given his history, McCain doesn't draw as much criticism as other veep contenders...
...But this was done to jab California governor Pete Wilson, who was challenging Dole for the presidential nomination...
...For the record, the answer is no...
...Later, he sat in the front row when Dole debated presidential contenders in South Carolina (this was after Gramm dropped out), grinning whenever Dole looked his way in hopes of cheering him up...
...He was categorized 1-Y for being slightly overweight...
...John McCain of Arizona, dismisses Engler and Voinovich as featherweights: "If you pick a garden-variety running mate like one of those Midwest governors-I don't mean to denigrate anybody-you lose...
...He ran Engler's two successful gubernatorial campaigns and also introduced Engler to his wife...
...Now, McCain aides also insist-and hope Dole and his senior advisers will be convinced-that McCain consistently advised Gramm to attack Patrick Buchanan, not Dole...
...Rumors about his draft status during the Vietnam war got into the press...
...The result...
...And, Murphy asks rhetorically, "do they have the pro-affirmative-action, pro-gun-control, and tax-increase stuff in it...
...It casts him as a conservative who not only rescued Cleveland from bankruptcy and despair when he was mayor in the 1980s, but also has saved Ohio taxpayers $4 billion...
...Aides were sent to examine Engler's draft record to make sure his story stood up-"pro-active checking," Murphy calls it...
...after all, Lungren is only the state's attorney general, not its governor...
...He also is a defender of Sheila Burke, the chief of Dole's Senate staff who often angers conservatives...
...Then last winter he sent a copy to every governor, member of Congress, and important Republican, as well as scores of political reporters...
...asks Stevens, the Voinovich partisan...
...He's problematic because of his recent job" as head of the American Council of Life Insurance, a Washington-based trade and lobbying group...
...Dan Pero, fresh from running Lamar Alexander's presidential bid, would handle queries about personal matters like the divorce...
...Vice President...
...The adviser was only too happy to send them along, plus two others that won't be found in Voinovich's press kit...
...Since McCain was national chairman of Phil Gramm's presidential campaign, his close tie to Dole is a bit surprising...
...John Engler for the Republican vice presidential nomination-a vindictive ex-spouse," wrote reporter Dawson Bell...
...He'd bring Michigan, a swing state...
...We've never elected a Republican president without Ohio," argues DeWine, "and I think Voinovich brings Ohio...
...Decades ago, Dole said, "I was wearing a John McCain bracelet proudly, a POW bracelet, and arguing with my Democratic colleagues not to cut off funding for the Vietnam war...
...He's the second choice of people who have another candidate...
...Engler as veep would do three good things, he says...
...He's not as good a message-deliverer as George Voinovich...
...We've got a record, so we don't need a video or other gimmicky devices," sneers Murphy, Engler's man...
...The one thing the Republicans who've sniped at Engler have in common," says Engler strategist Michael Murphy, "is they've raised taxes...
...Arizona's not a swing state," says Murphy, downgrading McCain's value to Dole...
...First, Dole wrapped up the Republican presidential nomination in early March, leaving little else for politicians and the press to dwell on until the conventions in August...
...Besides, only a small group of people will decide who winds up as Dole's veep, says McCain-ite Jay Smith, and they already know Voinovich: "They don't need a video...
...Former South Carolina governor Carroll Campbell "is not campaigning to be vice president as some others are," harrumphs Campbell adviser Bob Rusbuldt...
...Two thugs...
...Why has the quest for the vice presidency become such a full-blown affair...
...Carroll Campbell gets tougher treatment...
...DeWine takes the high road, declining to attack Voinovich's competition...
...Had Engler been unfaithful, as she had suggested in divorce papers...
...The veep-stakes is a diversion for people with a lot of time on their hands," says Murphy...
...If any Republican or reporter hasn't heard of how McCain and Dole bonded during the debate last December over sending troops to Bosnia, McCain's allies will quickly inform him...
...Stevens isn't so finicky, eagerly zinging the other contenders...
...Just below the top tier are three other potential running mates for Dole-Edgar of Illinois, Lungren of California, and Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson...
...And every candidate has a cluster of political consultants and advisers in his orbit ready to extol their principal and denigrate the others...
...Campbell allies read from a single set of talking points when they discuss the vice presidency...
...When Jay Smith, the McCain advocate, ran into Lungren in Long Beach, California, in mid-April, he addressed him as "Mr...
...And it's a compelling story...
...In truth, Lungren has no illusions about being Dole's pick, though it was Dole last year who initially mentioned him as a possibility...
Vol. 1 • May 1996 • No. 33
