In G.O.P. Fund-Raising, Dole's Star Power Dims (NYT)

[norml]

In G.O.P. Fund-Raising, Dole's Star Power Dims


Stephanie Kuykendal for The New York Times
Senator Elizabeth Dole at a fund-raiser in Washington with Senators Norm Coleman of Minnesota, left, and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska.

By ADAM NAGOURNEY and KATE ZERNIKE
Published: July 23, 2006

WASHINGTON, July 22 — The tables were loaded with untouched platters of food as Senator Elizabeth Dole rose this week to introduce her party’s Senate candidate from Nebraska. Sixty people were supposed to be at the fund-raiser, but Mrs. Dole, the host and leader of the Republican effort to hold the Senate this fall, found just 18 people scattered across an expanse of empty carpet.

Mrs. Dole has been a nearly unstoppable star for 25 years: the secretary of both transportation and labor, the head of the Red Cross and a popular senator from North Carolina, never mind the wife of Bob Dole, the former Senate majority leader and Republican presidential candidate.

But going into the most fiercely competitive Congressional election in 12 years, some Republicans say Mrs. Dole is faltering in her latest job, as head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which raises money, recruits candidates, plots strategy and shapes the party’s message.

She has been lapped in fund-raising by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The latest filing, on Thursday, showed Democrats with $37.7 million on hand, compared with $19.9 million for Republicans. If Senate Republicans are unable to close the gap, it will force the Republican National Committee to step in with financial support in tight Senate races — it had $45 million on hand as of Thursday — creating tensions with House Republicans who want that money used to help them.

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Stephanie Kuykendal for The New York Times
Some Republicans have faulted Senator Elizabeth Dole’s efforts to help maintain control of the Senate.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/23/washington/23dole.html?ex=1153800000&en=035798998b7e3164&ei=5087%0A

[hatrack]

1. Are we talking white dwarf, neutron star or black hole?

Those are the only varieties of "star power" Dole brings to mind for me.