ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 19, 1996 TAG: 9602190072
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MANCHESTER, N.H.
SOURCE: Associated Press
Just four days after he quit the Republican presidential race, Texas Sen. Phil Gramm endorsed Bob Dole on Sunday and warned the success and image of the Republican Party rested on keeping the nomination from Pat Buchanan.
``I believe that Bob Dole is the one Republican candidate in this race today who can bring together economic conservatives, and who can bring together social conservatives, and who can make the Republican Party again one united party that is committed to beating Bill Clinton and committed to changing America,'' Gramm said in delivering his support.
Publicly, party leaders not involved in the race have professed neutrality. ``I'm not going to get in the middle,'' House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Saturday when asked about the contentious race. But Gingrich has privately voiced alarm to associates about Buchanan's early strength, and he is hardly a lone voice among GOP establishment figures.
``They are in terminal panic,'' Buchanan said Sunday, rallying his crowds by suggesting he was coming under attack because GOP establishment figures feared he was about to seize control of the party.
Most senior Gramm supporters among elected Republican officials have quickly rallied to Dole's side. In addition to Gramm, this group includes Arizona Sen. John McCain and Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.
Yet there remain deep doubts in the party about Dole's strength, and supporters see the the next 10 days as the crucial test. Dole's backing among senators and governors will be sorely tested if he loses New Hampshire - even more so if former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander fares well. This is the major reason Dole is closing the New Hampshire campaign with ads criticizing Alexander for raising taxes while governor and for suggesting the state create an income tax.
Dole picked up another endorsement Sunday night from former Delaware Gov. Pete du Pont, who said the top three candidates in the race were ``a protectionist, a moderate and a conservative. ... Bob Dole is carrying Ronald Reagan's banner in the 1996 election. Bob Dole is the conservative.''
In accepting Gramm's endorsement, Dole shrugged off their caustic campaign exchanges. ``It was never personal,'' the Senate majority leader said.
And, without mentioning Buchanan, he picked up Gramm's theme that it was critical for the party not to be divided - a remark delivered with Buchanan in mind.
``We have got to bring the economic and the social conservatives together,'' Dole said. ``You can't divide us and expect to win in November.''
Gramm had planned to endorse Dole next week in South Carolina. But Dole's campaign aides urged moving up the event - even though Gramm had only modest support in New Hampshire - on the belief that every last vote could matter in a tight, volatile race with Buchanan and Alexander. About a dozen prominent Gramm supporters were on hand for the event, many still wearing Gramm lapel pins as they slapped on Dole campaign stickers.
The event also reflected the concern in the GOP establishment at the prospect of a Buchanan victory Tuesday.
Buchanan's economic views, particularly his protectionist positions on trade, are out of step with the party's conservative mainstream. And his deep support among social conservatives could mean that a protracted nomination battle involving Buchanan could make it difficult to unite the party.
More broadly, few leading Republicans believe Buchanan could defeat President Clinton, given past controversial statements about women, immigration and calls for a ``cultural war for the heart and soul of America.''
Just this week, for example, Buchanan has defended his campaign co-chairman, who took a leave of absence after it was reported that he spoke at meetings featuring white supremacists and militia leaders. The campaign also relieved a Buchanan volunteer in Florida of her duties because she also recruited for the National Association for the Advancement of White People.
``In the party of Bob Dole and Phil Gramm, there is no room for racism,'' Gramm said. ``A famous philosopher once said that in no way can you get a keener insight into the true nature of a leader than by looking at the people he surrounds himself with. You don't see David Duke standing up here.'' A former Ku Klux Klan leader from Louisiana, Duke has shown support for Buchanan.
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Wendy Gramm seems to approve as her husband, Sen.by CNBPhil Gramm of Texas (center), endorses former rival Sen. Bob Dole of
Kansas for the Republican presidential nomination Sunday. KEYWORDS: POLITICS