Dole Camp Searches For Compass

WASHINGTON, D.C.: With polls show him loosing about two points a week to President Clinton in the polls, Bob Dole has began casting about for solutions. The campaign filled a position that had been vacant for several weeks by hiring John Buckley, but the addition is just one step toward assembling a more effective team. Making up a 20-point deficit will be made much more difficult by the caliber of President Clinton's campaign machine, says TIME's Tamala Edwards. "The Clinton campaign made a name for itself in 1992 for its rapid response, so you have the masters of the game against a Dole team that's still coming together." In contrast to a Dole team still in disarray, the Clintons have a filing cabinet full of responses to which they refer any time Dole takes the offensive. How to right his course? For one thing, Edwards says, "Dole needs to get the Senate back on track. He needs to have headlines saying that Bob Dole, the master of getting the votes, is getting this done, is getting that done in the Senate. He has been good at working the floor and knowing the crucial moment to act in order to get things done, but he has to make sure that he doesn't get blindsided by the fairly independent, free-thinking GOP freshmen in the House." Or by Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, whose clever maneuvering in recent has sidetracked votes on several key issues, denying Dole the legislative victories he needs. With his campaign facing a severe budget crunch Dole's best option is still to make his case on the Senate floor. "If he were to take his campaign out from the Senate, where would he go? And how would he pay for it?"