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Dole also gave reporters a fine demonstration of her conflict resolution skills. After her speech, she was hounded by a small band of frustrated reporters who missed an earlier press conference because of a mix-up between Dole's staff and the media. Instead of the standard political post-game walk-and-talk, in which candidates amble slowly toward their car with microphones in their face answering last-minute questions, Dole went toe-to-toe with a reporter explaining that she simply had to go.

Dole: "Bye, now. Take care."

Reporter: "Mrs. Dole, will you accept ...

Dole: "Let me, let me ... We had a press availability before, and now I have to go ..."

Reporter: "Well your staff ..."

Dole: "You weren't here? Were you here earlier?"

Reporter (Angry, shouting): "No, because your staff ..."

Dole (placing her hands on the reporter's hands): "OK, OK, take it easy. Blood pressure down. What's your question?"

Still, Dole has the feel of a candidate testing the political winds. She said she has "directed my staff to make plans for the late summer," regarding any big political announcement. The doubt cast on Dole's political ambitions was piqued by Bob Dole's confession to the New York Times that he may actually contribute money to the John McCain campaign. Soon after that interview, Dole's chief campaign consultant, Kieran Mahoney, resigned. Dole says all of those signs have been misread by the press, and insists that it's "all systems go" in her camp, even if she can't bring herself to say those three little words, "I am running."

Dole's fund-raising efforts have been paltry to date in comparison to those of her potential rivals. In the last round of campaign filing reports, released in mid-April, Bush had raised $7.6 million while Dole had pulled in only $685,000, according to the Federal Election Commission. The next reports are set to be released at the end of the month, and could be a telling sign of whether or not Elizabeth Dole is for real.
salon.com | June 18, 1999

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