By Mark Wineka
mwineka@salisburypost.com
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole refused Saturday to accept the title of underdog going into the last three days of her tough re-election battle with Democrat Kay Hagan.
Dole, speaking to reporters in Salisbury after her “Elizabus Tour” ended its eight-day campaign swing through 30 counties, said “it feels great out there” and her husband, Bob, was getting the same positive feedback as he traveled elsewhere in the state.
Except for a recent Mason-Dixon poll that showed her with a slim lead, Dole said she doesn’t pay much attention to all the other polls that have her trailing Hagan, a state senator from Greensboro.
“We knew it would be competitive,” the incumbent Republican said. Dole acknowledged that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has made North Carolina a battleground state and could have an impact on other races.
Dan McLagan, Dole’s communications director, said, “Certainly in the eyes of the media, we’re the underdog.” But the Dole campaign knew going into the election it was going to be close and always is in U.S. Senate races in North Carolina, he said.
“Nothing’s easy,” McLagan added.
The Dole campaign just released its second television ad questioning Hagan’s appearance at a September fundraiser in Boston held at the home of Woody Kaplan, an advisory board member of the Godless Americans political action committee.
The first Dole ad linking Hagan to the Godless Americans organization has proved to be the most controversial of the campaign, which has seen millions of dollars from outside organizations pumped into negative ads on both sides.
Dole claims $18 million has been used against her, including $11 million from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Because of this particular ad, Hagan’s attorneys have filed an order indicating she will pursue a defamation and libel suit against Dole after the election. The Dole camp has filed a motion for dismissal of the action.
Hagan blasted the first “Godless Americans” ad as vile, unbecoming of Dole and a sign of desperation.
The controversy has gained national notice, with Dole often taking criticism for the way it was framed.
Asked about the ads Saturday, Dole said they are not meant to question Hagan’s own Christian faith. Rather, they raise questions about why she went to Kaplan’s home, Dole said.
Kaplan has contributed money to Hagan’s campaign and, as a host of the fundraiser, was responsible for other money coming in to support the Democrat, Dole said.
Dole said voters should ask why Hagan went to the fundraiser and what does the Democrat think about the Godless Americans PAC’s agenda. That agenda would eliminate the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance, ban Christmas as a federal holiday and take “In God We Trust” off U.S. currency, Dole said.
Dole suggested they are important questions because U.S. senators bear the responsibility for confirming federal judges.
Dole plans to attend church today with her sister-in-law Bunny Hanford, before taking off for Greensboro and possibly campaigning door to door. Asked if she chose Greensboro because it’s Hagan’s back yard, Dole said, “Well, it’s just a good place to go.”
On Monday, the day before the election, Dole will fly to six different N.C. cities. She is expected to vote Tuesday in Salisbury, and her campaign has scheduled a “Victory Rally” for Tuesday night at Salisbury Station (the depot).
“God willing, it’s going to be a big night,” Dole told about 100 people who greeted her tour bus behind the Dole state headquarters at East Innes and South Long streets.
Dole urged her supporters to give the campaign their time, money and prayers over the next three days and asked them to become “prayer warriors” for her and other Republican candidates.
“I think it’s going to be close, but I think she’s going to win,” said Edna Chapman, an unaffiliated voter from Lexington. “How can you not vote for her?”
Chapman said she hated that Dole had to resort to negative ads against Hagan. But Dole had no choice except to respond to the attacks leveled at her, Chapman added.
In the most controversial ad, Dole never said Hagan was godless, but she did point out that Hagan was supported by someone from the Godless Americans group, Chapman said.
“When you show up at someone’s dinner and get supported by them,” it’s legitimate to raise the question, Chapman said.
Julie Smith of Salisbury said Dole probably is an underdog going into Tuesday.
To turn that around, “people got to get out and vote,” Smith said. She added that voters also have to realize how critical it is to hold Republican congressional seats and not allow Democrats to have a 60 percent majority in the U.S. Senate.
Veteran Republican Phil Kirk said Tuesday’s vote is the most serious, critical and important election in the country’s history. He said he has known Dole for 40 years, “and she is not the Elizabeth Dole her opponent says she is.”
Only the media and big unions don’t want Dole re-elected, Kirk said. He described Dole as someone who has lived her faith her entire life and a senator who knows how Washington works ó and doesn’t work.
Both Kirk and state Sen. Andrew Brock, R-Davie, painted Hagan as a tax-and-spend Democrat in Raleigh. Brock complained about the money organizations such as ACORN and MoveOn.org have spent against Republicans in North Carolina.
Brock said Dole “has filled (late U.S. Sen. Jesse) Helms’ shoes more than admirably” in service to her constituents since 2003.
Dole’s remarks to the crowd followed a template she has used at most of her stops over the past week. Accompanying her throughout the bus tour was Ed Frawley, the father of a soldier who has done tours in Iraq and Afghanistan only to return to sub-par accommodations at Fort Bragg barracks.
Frawley placed a 10-minute video of the soldiers’ housing conditions on YouTube after his son’s return from Afghanistan, and within two days, he said, Dole had contacted the secretary of the Army and the commander at Fort Bragg to start correcting the situation.
Frawley said it also led to her introduction of the First Sergeant’s Initiative on every base, which is providing civilian contractors to correct the living conditions, not the soldiers returning from war.
“They don’t need to be painting barracks,” Frawley said. Dole understood how it’s the country’s responsibility “to take care of these men, so they can take care of us.”
Dole described Hagan as “wobbly” and not taking firm positions on illegal immigration, the war in Iraq, whether she would raise taxes, offshore drilling for oil and gas and the recent $700 billion bailout plan.
She also predicted Hagan, if elected, would “roll out the red carpet” in North Carolina for big unions, judging from the money Hagan’s campaign has received from those groups.
Meanwhile, Dole spoke of her work related to keeping N.C. military bases open, the federal tobacco buyout and providing a pilot program for N.C. sheriffs in helping them deal with illegal immigrants who commit crimes.
She said the country should have an everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach for a comprehensive energy plan. She especially favors drilling for more oil and natural gas.
“Drill, baby, drill, right?” she asked.