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White House tells DNC to take down "Republican Support" ad that was on YouTube, Dole said "It's just not my view." Here's how Dole appeared in the video (Screen Shot)

Former Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole says a top GOP leader asked him not to publicly support health care reform. But he's doing so anyway. The former Kansas senator said Wednesday that health care reform is "one of the most important measures members of Congress will vote on in their lifetimes." Dole opposes a government-run insurance option, saying it could put private insurers out of business. He expects something to pass by early 2010. Dole spoke at a health care summit in Kansas City. He said afterward that some Republicans have asked him to stay mum including Senate Minority Leader...

The national debate on health care took an ominous turn last week as a number of high profile Democrats beginning with former President Jimmy Carter argued that critics of the Obama Administration have latched on to this debate as a way of voicing their latent racism and anti-Black bigotry. The worst chief executive of the twentieth century dismissed tea party protestors as sore losers who cannot accept the painful reality that an African-American man is now the President of the United States. The fact of the matter is that since 1980 Jimmy Carter has been unable to accept the painful...

Bob Dole, a venerable 86 years old now, was back in the Washington limelight over the weekend, appearing on ABC TV to dispense counsel on a bipartisan approach to health care, popping up in newspapers explaining how to cut a deal, even suggesting Gen. David Petraeus as a presidential possibility. But his most heartfelt weekend activity took place elsewhere, out of sight of Washington politicos and devoid of any potential for gain or notoriety. It came under a brilliant Saturday-morning sun, when the former Republican presidential candidate, now a bit more frail than most Americans recall him, stepped out of...

“I will go on to the White House or go back to Kansas.” — from Bob Dole’s speech resigning from the Senate during his 1996 presidential campaign Even if it’s 13 years late, make good on your promise, Bob. Give up your Watergate apartment and go back to Kansas. Please. The photo here could be seen as Exhibit ‘A’ from the pathologist’s report. No, not of Ted Kennedy’s affliction, but of DC Swamp Fever, Washington-itis, or whatever you want to call the disease that overtakes politicians who, like a lonesome Brokeback cowboy, just can’t quit the town.

(FORTUNE Magazine) – As we tap out these words on our trusty 101-key enhanced keyboard, the Dow Jones industrial average is around 2700 and also looking enhanced. ... (FORTUNE Magazine) – Easily the most maddening political debate these days is the one about whether Congressman Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat, should resign on grounds of turpitude. ...

For the first time in 32 years, Democrats got more than 50 percent of the country to vote for their candidate in a national election, and now they want to lecture the Republican Party on how to win elections. Liberal Republicans have joined them, both groups hoping no one will notice that we just lost this election by running the candidate they chose for us. For years, New York Times columnist David Brooks has been writing mash notes to John McCain. In November 2007, he quoted an allegedly "smart-alecky" political consultant who exclaimed, in private, "You know, there's really only...

McCain needs to learn from the mistakes of another honored war hero who ran for the White House and lost.John McCain has long known what it's like for a teleprompter-challenged Republican senator to go up against a charismatic, made-for-TV Democrat. In 1996, McCain was Bob Dole's right-hand man. He served as one of the Kansas senator's closest traveling companions and top surrogates in the battle to unseat Bill Clinton. It was a race that began as Dole's to lose—Clinton was caught up in the Whitewater scandal. But lose he did. McCain watched as the Democrats successfully transformed the image of...

Bob Dole says Bob Dole is mad at Scott McClellan. The former Senate majority leader and 1996 Republican presidential candidate sent a nasty e-mail to McClellan calling him a "miserable creature" for his latest book blasting the Bush administration, FOX News has learned. In the e-mail, Dole basically describes the former White House press secretary as a traitor looking to cash in on the "liberal" media's distaste for President Bush. "There are miserable creatures like you in every administration who don't have the guts to speak up or quit if there are disagreements with the boss or colleagues," the five-term...

Bob Dole unloads on McClellan Bob Dole yesterday sent a scalding email to Scott McClellan, excoriating the former White House spokesman as a "miserable creature" who greedily betrayed his former patron for a fast buck. In an extraordinary message obtained and authenticated by Politico, Dole uses his trademark biting wit to portray McClellan as a classic Washington opportunist. "There are miserable creatures like you in every administration who don’t have the guts to speak up or quit if there are disagreements with the boss or colleagues," Dole wrote in a message sent yesterday morning. "No, your type soaks up the...

How can the world's hungriest schoolchildren be denied meals while the farm bill being debated in a House-Senate conference provides millions in subsidies for wealthy farmers? That's what Congress proposes. In all fairness, it should not become law. We are puzzled that Congress wants to increase overall farm bill spending by billions of dollars yet reduce by more than 90 percent the mandatory funding to feed hungry children. The program at issue saves lives and has a proven ability to break the cycle of poverty and hopelessness in poor countries. We are not expressing disagreement because the program, supported by...

WASHINGTON - A great old war hero - arms man gled by battle and known as an acerbic straight shooter - is picked by Republicans to be their nominee to make darned certain that a Clinton doesn't get back into the White House. John McCain? No, Bob Dole in 1996. And it didn't work out very well for Republicans. Dole lost after a campaign vexed by senior moments such as when the nominee fell off a stage, or when he referred to the Los Angeles Dodgers as the Brooklyn Dodgers. All along, President Bill Clinton showed extreme deference to Dole,...

As Hillary Clinton starts to fade away, or so it appears, John McCain faces both new obstacles and opportunities in his quest for the White House. The question is, will he be "helped" in the same way Bob Dole was in 1996? Dole was one of the better nominees the GOP has put forth in modern times. He was (and is) bright, witty, conservative and independent. Oops. Did I say independent? That was his problem. The Republican establishment generally doesn't like independence. President George H.W. Bush could barely stand Newt Gingrich in Gingrich's pre-Speaker years as House GOP Whip. Gingrich...

Bill Clinton in the town hall debates of 1996 and 2000 included physical, non-verbal debate strategies. This paper analyzed these "visual bytes” to see how Clinton used them during the debates. While the impact of “visual bytes” on the audience cannot be measured, this paper discusses the rhetorical implications of their use. -snip On Question One about national unity Clinton challenged Dole's response through aggressive posturing when Dole answered first. The camera shot aired had Clinton looking into the camera as Dole spoke while the shot frequently showed the back of Dole's head. The camera zoomed in for a quick...

I posted a squib on the National Review Web site about a robo call I received from John McCain. (Virginia's primary is Tuesday.) The call stressed that he would, if elected, be a down-the-line limited government conservative who would never raise taxes, would defend life, would enforce immigration laws and would win the war on terror. The candidate is trying, I said, to meet conservatives "more than halfway." The response of readers was, shall we say, emphatic. One lady wrote that she would never vote for him as "He is the most disloyal, ill-tempered man and he brings out the...

Ann Coulter wasn't invited to CPAC this year but she's still giving a speech 50 yards away. The speech is only open to 500 attendees but you can watch it live here -- courtesy of uStream. (VIDEO)

Former Sen. Bob Dole, the failed Republican presidential candidate in 1996, became the focus Tuesday of an increasingly testy exchange between GOP presidential contenders John McCain and Mitt Romney. The tit-for-tat began with Dole coming to the aid of McCain, a fellow war hero and former Senate colleague, in a letter to conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh. He has relentlessly criticized the front-running Arizona senator as insufficiently conservative.

(CNN) – Mitt Romney is backing away from a statement that seemed to denigrate former GOP presidential candidate Robert Dole, who wrote a letter to Rush Limbaugh yesterday defending the former Massachusetts governor’s main Republican rival, John McCain. In a FOX interview Tuesday morning, Romney had said the former Kansas senator was “probably the last person I would have wanted to have write a letter for me.”

Below is the text of a letter former Republican Kansas Sen. Bob Dole sent to radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, as obtained by FOX News. Rush, I have not seen you in a long time but I do hear you frequently and I know that you have serious reservations about Senator McCain. Not that many care but I have not been involved in the Republican Primary contest because Elizabeth, a good conservative, is running for reelection in North Carolina where Romney, McCain and Huckabee each enjoy considerable support. I was the Republican Leader from January 1985 until I left...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: So by now, if you don't know that Bob Dole sent me a letter yesterday afternoon, then you haven't been paying attention.  Here's the timeline on this.  Senator Dole, for whom I have a tremendous amount of respect, sent me an e-mail that I received here at 2:35 p.m. yesterday afternoon.  I assumed that it was a private e-mail and was going to reply to it later in the afternoon when I got home.  By the way, Mike Allen of Politico.com, the headline:  "Dole Scolds Limbaugh," there was no scolding in this letter.  I have it here...

Mitt Romney backpedaled Tuesday after saying former Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole is “probably the last person I would have wanted to have write a letter for me.” Romney made the remark in response to a letter Dole wrote to conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh in defense of John McCain. Romney even tried to call Dole, with no luck, from his plane as he criss-crossed the country on Super Tuesday in last-minute campaigning. “Let me make it very clear. Senator Dole is an American hero, a war hero, a fine man and a great leader for our party,” Romney...

Bob Dole, the former Senate Republican leader, wrote an insistent letter to Rush Limbaugh on Monday and suggested that for the good of the party, the conservative talk-show host should stop his strafing of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). On Monday's show, Limbaugh asserted that McCain has "lied about his reason for opposing the Bush tax cuts," and added: "I think McCain has an animus toward the Republican Party. I think ever since South Carolina 2000 he's had it in for the Republican Party, and one of his objectives is to destroy it and change it." McCain, the front-runner for the...

Stop comparing mean old crazy McCain to good old Bob Dole!

Albert Einstein once said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. With that in mind, if John McCain wins the Republican presidential nomination, it might be appropriate to temporarily designate the site of the 2008 Republican convention an insane asylum. Why? Well, a Republican doesn't need to spend much time on a political analyst's couch before depressing memories of the 1996 presidential election – also known as the Bob Dole debacle – are dredged up. If you're old enough to remember that frightening experience, but still too traumatized to recall it, perhaps...

WASHINGTON -- While public polls show Mike Huckabee leading Mitt Romney in Iowa, a new survey of an oversized sample shows Huckabee slipping and no longer ahead of Romney. A private corporate interest commissioned a phone bank survey of 15,000 Iowans who say they will attend Republican presidential caucuses Jan. 3. It showed Romney with 30 percent and Huckabee at 26 percent. Sen. John McCain was third with 12 percent and Rudy Giuliani fourth at 9 percent. Fred Thompson had only 1 percent, with slightly fewer votes than Rep. Ron Paul (also at 1 percent). Numbers for both Huckabee and...

President Bush met this afternoon in the Rose Garden with Senator Bob Dole and Secretary Donna Shalala on the Commission on Care for Wounded Warriorstranscript President Bush met privately today with the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet. He will present him tomorrow with Congressional Medal Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice continued her meeting in the Middle East. She won public support Tuesday for a Mideast peace conference from a skeptical Egypt, boosting her bid to secure critical Arab backing for pushing Israel and the Palestinians to resume formal negotiations to end their conflict. Enoy your visit to Sanity...

Knoxville News-Sentinel, The (TN) August 8, 1996 Section: A Section Page: A1 THOMPSON SAYS DOLE CAMPAIGN IS ERRING Author: MICHAEL SILENCE, NEWS-SENTINEL STAFF WRITER As the Republican's big show in San Diego nears, U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson on Wednesday chided Bob Dole's presidential campaign staffers for continually ``stepping on their own story.'' Thompson also said speculation Dole backed off abortion language to buffer the possible pick of an abortion-rights running mate is plausible. However, he added, that implies ``a well-thought-out move'' on the part of the Dole campaign. The Tennessee Republican, in Knoxville to laud law enforcement and tour the...

Even though the year is far from over and is likely to have its fair share of hypocrisy, Mrs. Clinton’s comment on the need to compromise to achieve political and social progress has to outclass any other current or future entrant for the Hypocrite of the Year award. This woman, who refused to change a comma or a word of her thousand-page-plus healthcare reform bill and, as a result of her intractable stubbornness, sent the bill down to defeat along with the Democratic Congress and almost her husband’s presidency, is daring to show herself now as the apostle of compromise....

FReeper Wheelbarrow(Bronze Star recipient) - part of Akron's First Honor Flight - for WW2 Vets - Sept 8, 2007Freeper Social in Grand Island NY : AFPhys; The Mayor, Wheelbarrow, NYTexan Wheelbarrow has been a FReeper for a few years. He lurks alot & has participated in many FReeps in Ohio, was active in the 04 national election & rallies & went to DC in 2005 for several events in FReeperdom. He is 82 & was part of the European Theater in WW2. He received a bronze star for the efforts in the war. Honor Flight i s a marvelous...

Bob Dole has decided that John McCain has lost the "buzz", and has signaled he is likely to switch his support to Fred Thompson in September. Take a look at what Dole is quoted as saying in a Bloomberg article: Bob Dole says his preferred presidential candidate, Arizona Senator John McCain, is fading and that his support is likely to be ``picked up'' by Fred Thompson, who is expected to announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination in September. ``My heart has always been with my good friend John McCain,'' said Dole, former Senate majority leader and Republican presidential nominee....

There are certain categories of ads on TV which offend me, and no doubt you, whenever they appear. There are the impotence ads. (Known as “E.D.” to its friends.) Plus the constipation/diarrhea ads. Plus the mobility (scooter) ads. The implication is that older men can’t get it up, can’t get it out, or can’t get it moving. Throw in the Alzheimer ads, and we can’t remember whether we’ve done any of that. I say “we” because all these annoying ads are my fault. Yes, mine, and I apologize. Yes, I am falling apart. It was only a month ago that...

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration must examine all military and veterans' hospitals to see where the system has failed, one of the leaders of the presidential commission to investigate the problems said Sunday. Donna Shalala, health secretary under President Clinton, said the commission will look at the system from the time "someone is hurt in Iraq and Afghanistan, all the way through, and to see not simply where the glitches are, but where the whole government has broken down." President Bush last week announced he had ordered a comprehensive review of conditions at military and veterans' hospitals, which have been...

Instead of popping pills, men with erectile dysfunction may be able to improve their performance through weight loss and getting in shape, but long-term cigarette smokers may be out of luck. Action Points * Explain to patients who ask that weight loss may improve symptoms of erectile dysfunction, while smoking doubles the risk that erectile dysfunction will progress in severity. Other common risk factors for erectile dysfunction include aging, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. That's the conclusion of investigators in the ongoing Massachusetts Male Aging Study, who found that changing some modifiable risk factors may reverse or prevent the progression of...

Former Clinton political hitman James Carville, who recently touted New York Sen. Hillary Clinton for a 2008 presidential run, is reportedly behind an advertising campaign attacking President Bush for his 1990 sale of Harken Energy stock as well as his ties to the oil industry in general. American Family Voices, a group described by the New York Times as "secretive," has paid to run a 30-second commercial on cable news programs in Washington, D.C., and in New York through Thursday. The ad blasts President Bush as "sly like a fox" for talking down his dealings with Harken Energy, which Democrats...

In 1995, the writing was on the wall. The conflict in Bosnia was escalating. Tens of thousands of civilians had been driven from their homes and were trapped in places the United Nations had designated as "safe areas," including Srebrenica. Only a few hundred poorly equipped U.N. peacekeepers stood between those civilians and Bosnian Serb forces. The Serbs had signaled their defiance of the United Nations, their disdain for diplomatic overtures and their determination to advance on the safe areas and finish the job of ethnic cleansing in Bosnia. All the makings of a massacre were present, and, before the...

by Mark Finkelstein June 27, 2006 If the mark of a person at ease with himself is the ability to have a chuckle at his own expense, then Rush Limbaugh is a supremely serene man. In the wake of the incident in which he was detained at the Palm Beach International Airport when it was discovered he had in his luggage a vial of Viagra with a prescription not in his name, you might have imagined that Rush would have begun today's show with an indignant denial of wrongdoing. He might have explained in tedious detail that in fact the...

In retrospect, America went collectively insane over the possibility that a company owned by Dubai's government would operate several of our ports. Rarely has reason been so routed by pure emotion. Dubai is a Westernizing state that long ago left the eighth century and accepts the modern world of globalized commerce and finance. This member of the United Arab Emirates has -- especially after Sept. 11 -- passed on intelligence, hosted our fleet and provided a foothold in the gulf near Iraq and Iran. For a country that is addicted to imported petroleum, hooked on cheap imported goods and eager...

The Clinton-appointed federal judge who tossed out half the government's death penalty case against convicted 9/11 "20th hijacker" Zacarias Moussaoui on Tuesday has a history of liberal rulings and was once named by Sen. Bob Dole to the "Clinton Hall of Shame." Even before Judge Leonie Brinkema decimated the government's case by ruling that evidence from key witnesses had been tainted by prosecutorial misconduct, veteran terrorism prosecutor Andrew McCarthy warned Brinkema not to overreact. Writing about the furor over the prosecution's blunder on NationalReviewOnline Monday, McCarthy said: "It is a tempest in a teapot that is obviously being blown out...

White House Retreat John LeBoutillier Monday, March 6, 2006 Several sources over the weekend reveal that the Bush White House has realized that the ports deal is killing them politically - and thus they need a new strategy. Accordingly, probably through the recently-retained lobbyist for Dubai Ports World, former Senator Bob Dole, the White House has told Dubai Ports World to "partner up" with an American company to manage the port terminals. In other words, find a "front company" to act as if they own and run these 21 crucial terminals. First out of the box for this "front" role...

The Dubai company that's at the center of the controversy swirling around management of several American ports has hired former Majority Leader Bob Dole as its lobbyist to address the bipartisan uproar over the deal, CNN's Andrea Koppel reports: The 1996 Republican presidential candidate was "engaged" by Dubai Ports World shortly after lawmakers on both sides of the aisle began expressing their strong opposition to the deal, said Mike Galloway, an aide to the retired senator. He is considered a GOP elder statesman, and his wife, Elizabeth, now represents North Carolina in the Senate. Dole is a special counsel in...

In 2003, Bob Dole gave France a “F-” grade for its lack of enthusiasm for the Iraqi war and urged the nation’s removal from the United Nations Security Council. But what’s a few Freedom Fries between friends, oui? Thursday, Dole stood in his Washington law office as one of France’s most prestigious awards – the Legion of Honor – was pinned to his lapel. The former Kansas senator, said French Ambassador to the United States Jean-David Levitte, is “known all over France” and esteemed for his public service. Although Dole suffered his debilitating war wounds in Italy, not in France,...

In a just-completed interview with Fox News' Bill Hemmer, Bob Dole hailed the new Medicare prescription drug benefit as "a great program." It's "great" for low-income people, he explained, because they'll have a very low deductible, and "good" for others. Of course he didn't say how 'great' the program would be for the taxpayer or for future generations saddled with paying for it. Of course Dole isn't alone in this. The program was created with the support of the President and most GOP congressmen. Still, at this stage of his career, it's sad to see Dole flacking for big government....

Edward Cafara who saved Bob Dole's life in Italy during WW2, has died in his hometown of New Rochelle, N.Y. at the age of 84.

Forty years ago today, in a nationally televised ceremony, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Voting Rights Act. While the immediate effect of the act was the registration of a quarter-million African American voters, more impressive is its enduring legacy: Today there are more than 16 million African American registered voters, 43 black members of Congress and thousands of minorities elected to state and local legislative offices throughout the country. Few pieces of legislation in U.S. history have had such a lasting and positive impact on our civic culture. As a young member of the House of Representatives,...

"Anyone who wants to understand me must first understand Russell, Kansas. It is my home, where my roots lie, and a constant source of strength. My father's view of the world as "stewers versus doers" registered early. From my neighbors, I learned to feel deeply for God, country and family. In Russell, I came to understand there are things worth living for, and, if need be, dying for. The Russell of my youth was not a place of wealth. Yet it was generous with the values that would shape my outlook and the compassion that would restore life's richness after...

In the current debate over judicial nominations, some commentators claim Republicans such as myself are misrepresenting history by suggesting the current filibuster tactics of the Democrats are unprecedented. These commentators cite the 1968 nomination of Abe Fortas to be chief justice of the United States as an example of how Republicans once attempted to block a judicial nomination on the Senate floor. I welcome the opportunity to respond to this claim, because the more Americans learn about the history of judicial nominations, the more they will realize how terribly off-track our confirmation process has become. In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson...

...Today, many have still not fully accepted the state of Israel, and the Middle East remains troubled. Many governments are no more willing than before to grant freedom to their people. The slaughters orchestrated by Hitler and Stalin have given way to mass murder in Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur. Though many claim to have learned from the unparalleled horrors of the 20th century, it is often not evident. Sadly, we know there will be more genocides. Yet our victory was complete in its liberation of millions of Europeans...; in the validation of our nation's quest for freedom and full rights...

"We the people, in order to form a more perfect union" . . . are getting restless and feel we are fighting an "insurgency" here in our own United States. The "power to the people" crowd, of this great country, are about to mount a full fledged war here at home if Congress doesn't get its act together. Oh, there won't be bloodshed likened to Valley Forge or Gettysburg, but there's a battle brewing nonetheless. We just might need to start over . . . perhaps another revolution. I feel one coming on. Where's George W . . . Washington...

Bob Dole says that amending the Senate's rules would be unnecessary if only Senate Democrats would forswear use of the filibuster. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Pete Du Pont recounts that many Democratic Senators have had a change of heart when it comes to the propriety of filibusters: "Other Democratic senators have had similar changes in belief: Joe Biden and Robert Byrd, Tom Harkin, Ted Kennedy, Joe Lieberman, Pat Leahy, Chuck Schumer and their erstwhile colleagues Lloyd Bentsen, and Tom Daschle have all vigorously opposed the use of the filibuster against judicial nominations. Mr. Schumer was for voting judicial...

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR Washington IN the coming weeks, we may witness a vote in the United States Senate that will define the 109th Congress for the ages. This vote will not be about war and peace, the economy or the threat from terrorism. It will focus instead on procedure: whether the Senate should amend its own rules to ensure that nominees to the federal bench can be confirmed by a simple majority vote. I have publicly urged caution in this matter. Amending the Senate rules over the objection of a substantial minority should be the option of last resort. I still...