Dole speaks at Las Vegas seminar

Thursday, March 11, 1999 | 11:24 a.m.

Elizabeth Dole, sounding like a candidate for president, said today that America has "gone so far yet has lost so much" of the vision of the founding fathers.

"In seeking to make America better, we've neglected what made her good," Dole told about 8,000 people attending the Peter Lowe Success 1999 motivational seminar at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Dole's visit to Las Vegas comes on the heels of her announcement Wednesday that she has formed an exploratory committee to determine whether she can build enough support for a presidential bid.

Dole, a Republican like her husband, 1996 GOP presidential candidate and longtime U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, said today that of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence, five were captured by the British and tortured before they died, 12 had their homes ransacked and burned and several died penniless.

"These men were not wild-eyed rabble-rousers. They were men of means ... who sacrificed," said Dole. "What would these patriots think if they saw America today?

"This country has gone so far yet has lost so much."

Dole, wearing a fuchsia-colored long-sleeved dress and pearls, spoke of her 30 years in public service, noting that it is a "noble calling" in which a person can make a difference. Yet she said many Americans no longer trust their public servants.

"Americans have become increasingly disenchanted with our government," Dole said, calling the federal government "too big and too bloated."

Dole has worked in the administrations of five presidents, serving as head of the Federal Trade Commission, secretary of labor and secretary of transportation.

She most recently served as director of the American Red Cross, a post she left in January.

Most polls have shown Dole and Texas Gov. George W. Bush far ahead of lesser-known Republican presidential hopefuls.

A national Gallup Poll released this week showed Dole with a narrow lead, 50 percent to 45 percent, in a one-on-one matchup with Vice President Al Gore. Texas Gov. George W. Bush has a 56 percent to 41 percent lead over Gore in a one-on-one race.

The telephone poll of 1,014 adults was conducted Friday through Sunday and has an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Dole has begun airing television commercials that aides said will reflect her campaign themes.

The gathering at the Thomas & Mack this morning got a taste of those themes. Dole said that improvements must be made in the areas of crime, drugs, education and welfare.

"We have a system of crime without punishment," Dole said. "Our children are suffering today.

"We must get back to teaching the business of mathematics, literature and citizenship. We must return discipline and parental involvement to our schools."

She said America must return to a "moral seriousness to the war on drugs."

"The hope of our nation is the conscience and character of our children."

Dole said the nation has experienced a "long and restless journey" since its fight for independence two centuries ago, and we must seek the "simple goodness that brought our nation to greatness."

"I believe the American destiny is to choose well."