Dole ‘Bothered’ by His Low Rating Among Women

WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Sen. Bob Dole conceded Tuesday that he is “bothered” by polls showing that he lags far behind President Clinton, particularly among women, but insisted that he could close the gap and “broaden the base of our party.”

Clinton, meanwhile, traveled to New Jersey, almost always a key state in presidential elections, where he attended a high school anti-smoking rally, emphasizing an issue that his strategists believe appeals to precisely the voters bothering Dole--women living in the nation’s middle-class suburbs.

The twin events indicated the accelerating pace of the presidential campaign even though the election is still six months away.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do between now and November,” Dole conceded during a 20-minute speech at a banquet of several hundred female leaders from around the nation who were invited to Washington by the Republican women members of Congress.

In particular, he acknowledged what nearly all polls show--that while he is behind among all voters, he is even further behind among women. “Does this bother me?” Dole asked when he brought up the gender gap issue. “You bet it does. I don’t think there should be a gender gap. I think that gap will close.”

“Do I have a plan to eliminate it? Yes I do,” Dole said. “First I would proudly discuss my record on the issues concerning America’s women.” That record, he said, includes fighting successfully for a provision in the 1994 crime bill that made it easier to convict repeat rapists and obtaining money to fund programs to combat violence against women.

Dole then recited his support for “a balanced budget, lower taxes, better schools . . . strong national defense . . . building a brighter future for all of our citizens. These are all your issues. They are my issues. They are America’s issues.”

Dole’s speech notably avoided any mention of abortion, but that may well have been on his mind when he talked about broadening the GOP.

“I’ve always had one ambition in my lifetime: that the Republican Party be the majority for the right reasons,” Dole said. “When I was chairman of the Republican Party, we took the front door off the national headquarters,” he said, recalling a post he held during the Richard Nixon administration. “We wanted to symbolically show that we are the open door party. Anybody was welcome to come in the Republican Party.”

That sort of language--emphasizing the need for the party to welcome all comers--has been used repeatedly over the past two weeks by Republican leaders who advocate changing the party’s hard-line antiabortion platform.

Clinton and his strategists have carefully cultivated his image among female voters, and White House aides believe the president’s stand against tobacco--particularly his emphasis on protecting children against smoking--has been a part of his widening lead.

At the New Jersey rally, which marked a nationwide “Kick Butts Day,” Clinton demanded that cigarette makers stop marketing their products to teens.

“I urge you: Be responsible,” Clinton implored the tobacco companies. “Play your role in stopping this problem before it starts for millions and millions and millions of young Americans.”

Some 3,000 teenagers take up smoking every day and statistics show that a third of their lives will be shortened because of it, Clinton said.

The event was one of a series of presidential activities in recent days aimed at the worries of middle-class families. On Monday, Clinton endorsed a GOP-sponsored measure to provide a tax subsidy for families who adopt. On Saturday, he proposed tightening eligibility requirements for welfare.

And late last week he turned the veto of a bill limiting damage awards in product-liability suits into a pro-consumer event, complete with Oval Office testimony from people who had been injured by defective products. The veto was sought by trial lawyers, who have been among the Democrats’ most generous donors.

Chen reported from Washington and Broder from New Jersey.