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At the same time, campaign sources told TIME, Kemp has begun to chafe about the campaign's progress. He complained privately last week, for the second time, about being sent to rich white suburbs instead of working-class neighborhoods. He began to quietly urge several top Republicans to call Reed and Dole to suggest that the two nominees campaign together more. Kemp believes that double billing on the road would brighten the ticket's public image and help keep Dole on the tax-cut message.
Dole knows firsthand how forgiving--and unforgiving--polls can be. The first week of September 1976, he and Gerald Ford trailed Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale by 15 points. Last week a TIME/CNN poll put Dole 14 points down in a three-way race with Clinton and Ross Perot. By Election Day 1976, Ford and Dole had pulled to within 1 point of the Democrats. That was a miraculous comeback--and this one will have to be even better.
--With reporting by John F. Dickerson with Kemp and Tamala M. Edwards with Dole
For continuous campaign coverage, see the TIME/CNN Website at allpolitics.com