(3168)  Wed 30 Aug 95 10:23
By: Scot Bear
To: All
Re: Re: DOLE GIVES BACK LOG CABIN
St:
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@EID:a433 1f1e52e3
* Original: FROM.....Scot Bear (154/69)
* Original: TO.......All (154/69)
* Forwarded by.......OPUS 154/69

  By RICHARD L. BERKE
  c.1995 N.Y. Times News Service
  WASHINGTON - Scrambling to enhance relations with
  conservatives, Sen. Bob Dole's presidential campaign said
  Saturday that it was returning $1,000 from a gay
  Republican group.

  The campaign said it had accepted the June donation by
  mistake, and would never have taken money from an
  organization that supports positions Dole opposes, like
  allowing homosexuals in the military.

  But correspondence produced Saturday by the president of
  the group, the Log Cabin Republicans, showed that Dole's
  national finance chairman had sought the group's help in
  raising money as recently as May.

  The returned donation is the latest sign that Dole is
  intensifying his year-long drive to court conservative
  Republican groups in the aftermath of his humbling tie
  with Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas in an Iowa straw poll last
  weekend.

  Nelson Warfield, Dole's spokesman, said that the campaign
  had accepted the donation from the Log Cabin Republicans,
  a nationwide organization with more than 40 chapters, only
  because of ``a financial screw up.''

  ``It's our policy that we won't accept contributions from
  groups that have a specific political agenda that's
  fundamentally at odds with Senator Dole's record and his
  views,'' he said.

  But Richard L. Tafel, the president of Log Cabin, said he
  had dealings with several senior Dole campaign officials
  who had solicited his organization. He also said he
  prominently wore a Log Cabin lapel button as he discussed
  AIDS budget allocations with Dole at one of the senator's
  fundraising events.

  Tafel made available a letter he received from John A.
  Moran, the Dole finance director. ``Per our discussion,''
  Moran wrote, ``I am attaching a list of upcoming Dole for
  president fund-raising events. Senator Dole and I would
  appreciate any assistance you could give us in turning out
  your members at each event. I am looking forward to
  working with you.'' The letter, dated May 24, closed,
  ``With all good wishes. Cordially, John.''

  Asked about the letter, and other conversations between
  Log Cabin and the campaign, Warfield said, ``That
  communication was not authorized.'' He said Moran had
  since been told by Scott Reed, the campaign manager, to
  ``exercise more caution'' in his fund-raising appeals.

  And Warfield suggested that Log Cabin made the
  contribution for publicity, saying, ``They're struggling
  for credibility.''

  Warfield said that the campaign had returned donations
  that violated campaign finance laws, but that the Log
  Cabin contribution was the first one returned for
  ideological reasons.

  For months, Dole has sought to demonstrate that he is as
  conservative as Gramm and his other competitors for the
  nomination. But as Senate majority leader, Dole often has
  to cajole and compromise to get legislation passed, which
  makes it tough for him to take ideologically pure stands.

  As Dole put it earlier this month in an interview, ``I'm
  not one of those `in your face, it's got to be my way or
  no way' kind of conservatives.''

  Last week, Gramm continued to make the most of his tie in
  the straw poll, which Dole, from neighboring Kansas, had
  been widely expected to win. He called Dole a ``proud,
  effective moderate.'' Patrick Buchanan, a commentator
  who is popular with conservatives, placed a respectable
  third in the poll.

  Dole has also seen his front-runner's standing erode in
  some recent polls, including one released Saturday by Time
  Magazine and CNN that shows that among the Republican
  field of candidates, Dole has declined to 35 percent, a
  slip from 42 percent in July. But most of the lost support
  is not going to his opponents but to the undecided column.

  ``Dole's getting messages from the straw poll that he's
  not right wing enough, then he gets word that he might be
  the first presidential candidate to accept money from a
  gay organization,'' Tafel said in a telephone interview
  from Cincinnati, where his group is holding its annual
  convention.
  ``So they panicked and said, `We don't know who they are
  and we're going to give the check back.' ''

  He added, ``The issue really is integrity. What will a
  person do to become president?''

[No comment]


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