March 10, 1999
Elizabeth Dole talks of faith & values
___COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (RNS)--Possible Republican presidential contender Elizabeth Dole delivered a speech Feb. 17 about faith and values to 1,000 evangelical leaders.
___Dole received a standing ovation following her introduction as "the kind of person of whom presidents are made" at the annual meeting of the Christian Management Association.
___In an upbeat, 40-minute speech, Dole addressed her listeners as "fellow Christians" and said the key to both individualsalvation and national renewal was the willingness to "submit ourselves to the authority of a moral order."
ELIZABETH DOLE
___Dole had the audience roaring with laughter as she shared anecdotes from her months on the 1996 campaign trail with her husband and then-Republican presidential nominee, Bob Dole. She also brought them to a hushed silence as she described the challenges facing America.
___Dole, who has yet to say definitively if she will seek the White House, said the country's challenges could only be met by a wholesale return to the virtues of faith, discipline, integrity, civility and personal responsibility.
___After giving her another standing ovation at the end of her speech, the audience paused to pray for Dole.
___Dole's reception contrasted with some of the treatment she has received from conservative Christian political activists in Washington. Earlier in Feb-ruary, she was not invited by a group of prominent religious and social conservatives who interviewed a half-dozen other possible Republican presidential candidates in an effort to find one to unite behind.
___Since she took the helm of the American Red Cross in 1991, Dole--a lifelong Methodist who currently attends National Presbyterian Church in Washington with her husband--has emerged as one of America's most respected women.
___In recent years, she has spoken to prominent evangelical groups, including the Evangelical Press Association and the National Religious Broadcasters, which honored her with a major award earlier this month.
___Although Dole's speech was vague on specifics, it contained numerous explicit references to what she said was both her family's and the nation's deep Christian heritage.
___Dole said Americans "will never be able to write enough rules" to make up for a lack of individual and national character.
___She praised her listeners for "doing the Lord's work" and hailed public service as both a noble calling and a moral duty.
___Dole's speech did not make an explicit comments about her position on abortion, one of the touchiest issues dividing the GOP.Frontpage / Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!