Tar Heel Writers, Editorial Boards, Pundits Agree: Dole Ineffective, Doesn't Stand up, Work for North Carolinians

October 20, 2008

GREENSBORO, N.C. – In Sunday’s Charlotte Observer, columnist Jack Betts explains why Elizabeth Dole is locked in a tight race for U.S. Senate with State Senator Kay Hagan (D-Guilford). Dole, Betts writes, “was vulnerable because a lot of North Carolinians thought, right or wrong, that Dole wasn’t spending that much time in the state and that she wasn’t paying attention to things folks thought were really important.”

It’s not just Jack Betts who agrees with the case Kay has steadily been making. Kay has received every editorial board endorsement offered in this race, and in every write-up, editorial writers point to Dole’s ineffectiveness and contentment to play a backseat role in the U.S. Senate.

• The Charlotte Observer lamented that Dole’s “ineffectiveness in representing North Carolina is such a surprise and such a disappointment,” and, “She has been a voice for her party far more times than she has acted independently.”
• The Winston-Salem Journal said “Dole has reserved her best efforts for issues of importance to the national Republican Party and the Bush administration, not North Carolina.”
• The Durham Herald-Sun wrote, “We can’t help but think [Dole] could have taken a more active role during her six years in the Senate.”
• The Asheville Citizen-Times said, “Dole has failed to translate her knowledge and experience into the kind of clout and activism that would make her a force in the Senate.”
• The Greensboro News-Record said Dole “has not gained as much influence in the Senate as her Washington experience should have earned for her, nor been as visible in North Carolina as she should have…”

When writing about her time in the U.S. Senate, the Raleigh News & Observer wrote that Dole “has spent her first term largely as a back-bencher who is more likely to co-sponsor major legislation than author it, more likely to join a group of negotiators than lead it.” The Associated Press said Dole “ends her first term with only a few major accomplishments to her name,” and, “Dole’s experience in the executive branch hasn’t easily translated to work in the Senate.”

Kerry Haynie, a political scientist at Duke University said, “If you look for things [Dole’s] done, you have to look hard and long to find those things…she’s more of a silent senator in many respects.” Jennifer Duffy, of the Cook Political Report, wrote, “(Dole) is not perceived as terribly aggressive.”

“While we’re pleased that local writers, editorial boards and pundits agree that Dole has been ineffective and North Carolinians deserve the kind of leadership and hard work Kay represents, the ultimate validation comes from North Carolinians themselves,” said Hagan Campaign Communications Director Colleen Flanagan. “While the Dole campaign will shrug off the media’s assessment of Sen. Dole’s abysmal performance, they’ll find it much more difficult to shrug off the discontent North Carolina voters feel toward her and the way they’ll show it – by voting her out of office is just two weeks. North Carolinians deserve someone like Kay, who will advocate on their behalf, every day, every week, every month and every year – in this economy, they can afford nothing less.”

In 2006, after becoming the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, in charge of electing fellow Republicans to the Senate, Dole gave up her seat on the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee, despite the fact that North Carolina has a significant agriculture community. Dole ranks 93 out of all her colleagues in terms of effectiveness, and the Winston-Salem Journal recently reported that Dole spent just 13 days in North Carolina in 2006, and 20 days in 2005. In all, Dole has spent about 13% of her time in the state since being elected nearly six years ago.

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