How Dole Could Have Used The Issues To His Advantage :: essays research papers

How Dole Could Have Used The Issues To His Advantage In a more or less conservative country, the more or less conservative candidate, Bob Dole, should have been a lock for the presidency; the only problem was President Clinton. Clinton had moved rightward positioning himself between Newt Gingrich's zealous revolutionaries on the right and liberal democratic barons on the left. Clinton's speeches started sounding like a Republican was giving them. Bob Dole had followed the Nixon ideology of going "starboard" in the primaries and coming back to the center in the general election. The only question was whether Dole had gone too far right and would not be able to recover in time. With Clinton's move to the right and his advantage of incumbency, Bob Dole would have to present some exciting new ideas to win over the American people. Throughout the history of presidential elections, there have been a few issues that always appear: abortion, crime and the economy. The position taken by candidates on these issues could make or break their campaign. The first of these issues, abortion, has been a hotbed of controversy. The pro-life versus the pro-choice groups. Throughout his political career, President Clinton has been adamant on supporting a women's right to choose. Clinton stands firm on the fact that abortions should be "safe, legal and rare" without many unnecessary restrictions. To further show his hard stance on abortion, Clinton vetoed a bill in April that would have banned a rarely used procedure termed "partial birth abortions." President Clinton defended his decision, calling it justifiable in extreme situations, such as cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother. Unlike Bosnia and gays in the military, Clinton has not wavered on this issue. Bob Dole on the other hand has taken just the opposite stance on abortion. Dole opposed the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. In 1983 he voted for a constitutional amendment to overturn this settlement but has since softened his stand and supported an amendment to restrict abortion except in cases of rape, incest and if the life of the mother is in danger. Dole, not surprisingly, supported a ban on "partial birth abortions" and has condemned President Clinton for vetoing it, saying, "A partial birth abortion blurs the line between abortion and infanticide, and crosses an ethical and legal line we must never cross." Dole's position could pose a potential obstacle to the presidency. His stance is responsible for his huge gender gap. Women perceive Dole as rigid and insensitive to their needs. What Dole must do is stick to his guns but reassure