What Now?

DETROIT: It's just over two weeks until Election Day, and Bob Dole has to make a decision. Will he spend it campaigning primarily for himself, or campaigning to help the Republican Party. One indication of his choice will be in how he approaches the last two weeks. "It will be interesting to see if he continues to take risks and pound away at Clinton's character or if he takes a longer view and tries to achieve what he can without a win," says TIME's Tamala Edwards. "He's stuck between the two. Does he want to go out screaming his way into history or be remembered for running a gentleman's campaign?" Perhaps more importantly for the GOP is the question of whether Dole will use the next two weeks to help the party retain the hold on the House it won in 1994. The Dole campaign's recent shift in focus to California, all but conceding a number of smaller swing states such as Pennsylvania and Connecticut, shows a commitment to help out the party in a state that has a number of hotly contested seats. Monday, Dole eschewed attacks on Clinton in order to concentrate on his economic plan. Unfortunately, he is finding an increasingly chilly reception even from his own party. In Michigan, Dole tried to score points by touting a tax plan he says will jump start a stalled economy only to be rebutted by the state's Republican governor, George Voinovich. "It's about growth, it's about opportunity, it's about jobs, it's about the private sector," Dole said in a speech to business leaders about his tax plan. "We believe there are great opportunities. The mainstay of this campaign is the economic package." Voinovich undercut Dole's message when he countered that the economy was in fact in pretty good shape, and that it was governors like himself that should be given the credit: "The economy has never been better. But let me tell you, it's the governors of this country who have made the difference." Statements like these might have Dole wishing he was back in a more friendly environment -->