BOB DOLE : A Tribute (Part 2) The Campaign of a Lifetime 1996 (Special Edition)

It was the campaign of my lifetime. A chance to work for not one but three of my heroes in one year, Bob and Elizabeth Dole and Strom Thurmond.  1996 was a great year. 

Some people have been critical of the campaign Bob Dole ran in 1996, but I doubt anyone could have done any better. The economy was booming and Bill Clinton was the master of campaigning. But Bob  Dole gave him a run for his money and did something very impressive, in a year clearly trending toward a popular President, he kept him under 50%, and both houses of Congress stayed in Republican control. The work Bob Dole did in California, in districts of congressmen who were in trouble is what saved our majorities. As I remember CNN analyst William Schneider saying, "He helped save the Republican cause even if his own cause fared badly"

Bob Dole's character shined throughout the campaign and I learned so much just watching from the sideline on how to act and treat people, how even on the Presidential level, you could still be a thoughtful, considerate candidate and stay true to your principles as a human being. Most importantly, I saw the price of freedom, every time he used his left hand to shake hands or held a pen in his right. 

Bob Dole said over and over on the campaign trail "I am certainly not Dwight Eisenhower, but I have always been proud of the vote I cast for Eisenhower and you want to be proud of the vote you cast, 10 years, and 20 years and 30 years from now" well I still am proud of the vote I cast for Bob Dole, it is the proudest vote I ever cast. 

In this episode we shall hear his announcement, his visit to the Greenville Christmas parade, a profile from ABC News just before the Iowa Caucus, and his resignation from Congress. Plus speeches from the most prominent members of the august body in which he served, the United States Senate.  Thad Cochran,  Ted Stevens, Strom Thurmond, Tom Daschle and Robert Byrd all take to the floor to talk about this giant of the Senate they considered it a privileged to have served with. 

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