Senate Republican leader Bob Dole has received the blessing of the Rev. Pat Robertson, spiritual director of the 1.7 million member Christian Coalition. And why not? In recent weeks he has done all the right family values things.
For openers, he returned a $1,000 contribution from the Log Cabin Republicans, an organization for gay Republicans. In returning the money, Mr. Dole stood on principle: He does not accept contributions from organizations with which he is in fundamental disagreement, his campaign office said. Apparently the disagreement was not evident to the Dole campaign when it solicited the money three months ago.On taxes, Mr. Dole stands four-square for that keystone of family values, untaxed capital gains, and he has added a new goal: a constitutional amendment that would require a two-thirds vote in Congress to raise taxes. Along with proposals to permit government-organized prayer in schools and to require a balanced federal budget, Mr. Dole now supports four constitutional amendments. The only proposed amendment he has not embraced is one to prohibit abortions, but Mr. Robertson seemed willing to overlook that.
So why is Mr. Dole pandering to the Christian right when doing so can only put him outside the mainstream of American political and social opinion? Perhaps he believes that once he obtains the nomination he can moderate his message. If so, it is a risky strategy as well as a cynical one, for Mr. Dole could find that he had set in motion forces of division, distrust and rancor that he cannot call back.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch