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Dole accomplishments: campaign fodder or opposition research?

Sen. Elizabeth Dole's legislative press office just sent out this PDF which gives the senator's own rundown of what she did in 2007.

This is pretty much a "here's why you should vote to send me back to Washington" type of missive, fairly typical for any incumbent. It's also the type of document I would expect her political opponents to try and pick apart.

For example, listed as a "key accomplishment" was this:

Opposed Washington-Beaufort Counties site for a Navy outlying landing field and had funding for the OLF stripped from defense bills. Elizabeth Dole has stated that broad local support for an OLF is essential. She has assured North Carolinians and advised the Navy that she will oppose the Navy’s efforts to acquire any site in North Carolina that fails to meet this standard.

But those without long-term memory damage will recall articles and editorials like this one that my friend Scott Mooneyham wrote in early 2007:

North Carolina's two U.S. senators, Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr, apparently don't want to insert politics into the process.

So, despite pressure from critics back home, neither has taken a stand on the Navy's plan to build a practice jet landing field near a pristine federal wildlife refuge in the eastern part of the state.

They haven't done so even though opposition to the Navy's plan is fierce among residents in Washington and Beaufort counties living near the proposed site.

Dole's supporters will argue that in the end she helped derail the project. Opponents will argue that she came in to shoot the wounded only after constituents complained loudly.

At any rate, a document like this gives a strong hint of the sort of things Dole will be running on come the General Election. Interestingly, I bet it also gives us a glimpse of the type of things that her opponent will try to chip away at as well. Speaking of "chip," here's another accomplishment that her eventual opponent will likely hammer away at:

Called for reauthorizing and responsibly expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program so that all eligible children in North Carolina are covered, and opposed a bill that would have disproportionately burdened North Carolina’s economy to fund the program. After this bill was twice vetoed, Dole successfully advocated for a long-term extension of SCHIP to end the uncertainty facing North Carolina and preserve coverage for children in our state. Elizabeth Dole continues to advocate for a bill to reauthorize and expand this valuable program in a way that truly helps, not hurts, North Carolina.

Democrats say that the Republican-lead resistance to the SCHIP expansion actually denies coverage to children who need help. And Sen. Kay Hagan, one of two Democratic front-runners, listed Dole's opposition to SCHIP expansion as a reason she got into the race.

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Comments (3)

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Roch101 said:

Who wrote that crap? Certainly someone who must think the people of NC are morons.

Mark Binker said:

I'll presume you're talking about the PDF from Sen. Dole. It was sent out by her Washington press office, so I'd presume that it was manufactured up there.

Any of the finer points you'd like to bring up for debate?

Roch101 said:

Yeah, Mark, I meant the crap from the PDF, not your crap which I find perfectly acceptable.

I don't think it's the fine points that need to be addressed, its the distortion, the mendacity of the message that is insulting. Dole's folks in DC better get with it, we hicks here in NC just might be paying more attention than they seem to give us credit for.

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