White House hopeful Bob Dole, who last year promised Republicans he could be another Ronald Reagan, met privately with the former president Wednesday and pronounced the visit "a shot in the arm" for his campaign.
"It reminded me of the great things that President Reagan had done for America - tax cuts, a good economy, strong defense," Dole told reporters as he emerged from the 40-minute meeting.Dole's obvious reverence for Reagan, whom he briefly battled for the GOP presidential nomination in 1980, papered over the pair's early clashes on tax cuts and supply-side economics.
"It was a sort of shot in the arm," Dole said of the carefully guarded private meeting.
Dole and his wife, Elizabeth, met in Reagan's bookcase-lined office with the former president and his wife, Nancy, whose 73rd birthday is Saturday. Posing for photographers, the two men greeted each other with a handshake, while Elizabeth Dole presented Nancy Reagan with a chocolate-frosted birthday cake and a hug.
The former first lady said that as she blew out the single candle atop the cake, her wish "might have something to do with November."
Reagan, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease at age 85, was described as subdued and saying very little during Wednesday's meeting.
Asked about her husband's condition, Nancy Reagan said, "He's doing very well."
The bulk of the meeting consisted of a campaign update from the Doles, according to Ken Khachigian, a top Dole strategist who sat in on the session.
Reagan, dressed in a dark business suit and red tie, "listened very intently and seemed to really enjoy the tales from the campaign, and he laughed at some of the stories they had to tell," Khachigian recounted.
The Doles' visit with Reagan came on the second day of a California campaign swing - his sixth this year. Dole has pledged not to concede the state to Clinton as George Bush had done in 1992.
Leaving Wednesday's meeting, Khachigian said he assured Reagan, "We're gonna win one for the Gipper one more time."
"He lit up and said `All right,' " Khachigian said.