Voice of America &quot;Press Conference USA&quot;

Transcription (Scripto)

Read Full Text Only (TXT)

Extent (Dublin Core)

30 Minutes, 7 Seconds

File Name (Dublin Core)

c031_075

Title (Dublin Core)

Voice of America "Press Conference USA"

Description (Dublin Core)

Leslie “Les” Higbie moderates a discussion for Voice of America’s ‘Press Conference USA’ radio program featuring correspondents James J. Kilpatrick, Hugh Sidey, and James Doyle interviewing Senator Bob Dole. They discuss topics including the Vietnam War and prisoners of war, President Nixon’s announcement that he accepted an invitation to visit China, domestic economic issues, and the 1972 presidential campaign.

Date (Dublin Core)

1970-05-01

Date Created (Dublin Core)

1970-05-01

Congress (Dublin Core)

91st (1969-1971)

Topics (Dublin Core)

See all items with this value Vietnam War, 1961-1975

See all items with this value United States--Foreign relations--China

Policy Area (Curation)

Armed Forces and National Security

International Affairs

Creator (Dublin Core)

Dole, Robert J., 1923-2021

Sidey, Hugh

Kilpatrick, James Jackson, 1920-2010

Doyle, James, 1935-

Higbie, Les

Record Type (Dublin Core)

radio programs

Rights (Dublin Core)

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

Language (Dublin Core)

eng

Collection Finding Aid (Dublin Core)

https://dolearchivecollections.ku.edu/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=84&q=

Physical Collection (Dublin Core)

Collection 031, Box 2

Institution (Dublin Core)

Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

Archival Collection (Dublin Core)

Dole Audio Reels Collection, 1960-1979

Full Text (Extract Text)

Narrator:
Press Conference USA. [transition music] From Washington, the Voice of America brings you ‘Press Conference USA,’ an unrehearsed discussion program. Each week at this time, reporters interview an interesting personality in the news. To introduce our guest of the week and the news correspondents, here is Les Higbie, this week's moderator of Press Conference USA.

Les Higbie:
Early maneuvering for the 1972 presidential nominations has been underway for several months, even though the Republican and Democratic Party conventions are still a year away. President Nixon's announcement this week that he has accepted an invitation to visit mainland China poses a number of questions for American foreign policy, as well as for the domestic political situation. To discuss the political situation and these questions, we have invited Senator Robert J. Dole, Republican of Kansas, as our guest today. Senator Dole is also the national chairman. He served eight years in the House of Representatives before his election to the Senate in 1968. Senator Dole, welcome to ‘Press Conference USA.’

Bob Dole:
Thank you.

Les Higbie:
Now will our panel of correspondents identify themselves?

James J. Kilpatrick:
I'm James J. Kilpatrick of the Washington Star Syndicate.

Hugh Sidey:
I am Hugh Sidey of Time and Life magazines.

James Doyle:
And I'm James Doyle of the Washington Star.

Les Higbie:
Mr. Kilpatrick, would you take the first question?

James J. Kilpatrick:
Senator Dole, the president's surprise announcement as to Red China seems certain to stir up considerable applause among liberals, but by the same token, is likely to stir up great anguish among conservatives. To what extent do you believe this conservative opposition will be taken into consideration by the White House?

Dole:
I think it’ll be taken into consideration. I consider myself among the conservatives in the Senate, among the conservatives around the President. I have some questions, but I think right now it's sort of shrouded in mystery in any event. I don't see any abandonment of any policy we've had. I do think it might hasten the end of the war in Southeast Asia, and this is embraced by liberals and conservatives. I'm not certain it is a liberal versus conservative issue or problem. It may become that, but I don't see it that way now.

James J. Kilpatrick:
In recent months, such conservative publications as Human Events and the Battle Guard of Young Americans for Freedom, New Guard, and the Battle Line of the American Conservative Union. All of these have been hitting hard at Mr. Nixon. He appears to be losing some support on the Conservative Right. How serious is this?

Dole:
I don't find it very serious, and I've been in 35 States and made about 70-some speeches the last five months and I've been in rather conservative areas. They consider me a conservative. They consider Governor Reagan a conservative. I would guess I've had probably two or three requests to meet with conservative groups about the President. I intend to do this, but I don't find any great defection. They may not like welfare reform, but they may like something else. I think it's an area we must work at. We certainly want to keep the conservatives on our side.

Les Higbie: Mr. Sidey.

Hugh Sidey: This peace or the overture to Red China and the visit, Senator, is one of many things going on in international policy which leads me to believe that perhaps Mr. Nixon plans to cast himself as a peacemaker in next year's presidential campaign. Does that make any sense to you as the party head?

Dole: It makes a lot of sense to me. He's been talking for some time about a generation of peace. That's GOP, of course, but it's also a generation of peace. And I believe very strongly that this has been the President's approach, not from a political standpoint, but I think he firmly believes that he has great strength in the field of foreign affairs. I think he's exercised it, whether it be in the Mideast, whether it be in Southeast Asia, or whether it be with reference to mainland China. I just talked with the former governor, Alf Landon, who was a Republican nominee, and of course he's elated with reference to the announcement on China, but has long felt we should improve our relations with mainland China.
Hugh Sidey: Well, casting it in purely political terms, there are some surveys, some polls out that suggest that the people are more concerned about domestic unrest and the economy than they really are about war and about these issues. Is there a chance that this idea of a peacemaker will not be as strong as perhaps Mr. Nixon thinks in terms of political support next year?

Bob Dole: Well, I think realistically domestic issues, of course, when they touch each of us or any of us, have a stronger impact. But I do believe, again based on a great number of visits with a great number of people, liberal, conservative, Republican, independent, Democrat, that the greatest concern in America still continues to be the war. I think the Democrats frankly have been successful in resurrecting the war as an issue. I believe it will be a plus. It shouldn't be a partisan issue, but I believe the war will be virtually ended long before November. And I think it will have an impact. The President will be the peace candidate in 1972.

Les Higbie: Mr. Doyle.

James Doyle: Senator, Senator, on that question of peace in Vietnam, have you and the administration painted yourselves into a corner on the prisoner of war issue? You've been a leading spokesman of the President's view that there should be no settlement until the prisoners are released and now some of the POW wives and parents are saying that this is a position that is prolonging the captivity of the prisoners, and that in fact the other side is willing to, once we reach a settlement, to release the prisoners. Is that the position that you can maintain in the next year?

Bob Dole: I think so. I don't believe we paint ourselves in a corner. I think those who you hear from are very small in number and I've been very closely aligned with the mothers and the wives and families of POWs long before it became popular to do so. And I think I know virtually every family, if not by name, through correspondence and activity across the nation. And I don't find many slipping away. In fact, just recently two mothers appeared before the Republican Senate policy luncheon and strongly supported President Nixon. I think the overture to Red China indicates again the President, whoever he may be, must do the negotiating. Can't be the Senate Foreign Relation Committee or a group of senators, or a group of House members. I don't think we should stay in South Vietnam because of the prisoners, nor should that be the only reason we leave. If that were the case, we never should have been there in the first instance.

James Doyle: Well, then you don't rule out the possibility of presidential negotiations, which allows for a settlement without bringing in the prisoner issue, as you have brought it in so often.

Bob Dole: No, I think we're going to end the war through negotiation, and I believe we're going to resolve the prisoner issue. And I base this on no inside information, but my confidence to the president, my visits with the president. He understands it's going to be a long, tough summer. I think now, maybe not as tough as it was yesterday, what with the announcement on Red China.

Les Higbie: Mr. Kilpatrick.

James Kilpatrick: Let me return to the domestic questions that Mister Sidey was asking about earlier back in April, you made a speech up in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, in which you said you believed that we were just about to turn the corner on some of these economic problems. Whatever happened to that corner, Senator Dole?

Bob Dole: Well, it's a long corner, and I think we're turning. I'm not certain how far we are around the corner. There have been, I think there will be an increase, a marked increase next year in consumer spending. We have had some of the indicators. The unemployment rate has dropped some, I’m not certain it will stay at 5.6 it may go up a little bit and then drop back again. There are some good signs in the housing industry and retail sales of automobiles. But of course, if we have a steel strike and railroad strikes, it can throw the whole thing into a cocked hat. But I believe the president’s made it quite clear that he's going to stick with his plan. I know this has caused many Republicans who are running next year a certain amount of uneasiness.

James Kilpatrick: Tell me, Senator, are Republicans uneasy about the prospective deficits?

Bob Dole: No doubt about it. In fact, it's been discussed privately and I think publicly by Republican senators. I think now the deficit is forecast at $25 billion. We find this rather hard to accept some of us as economic conservatives. And we find the full employment budget rather difficult to explain. I've explained it a number of times. I’m not certain I understand it, but I explain it wherever I go.

James Kilpatrick: What do you propose? What do you propose to do about these deficits, Senator?

Bob Dole: Well, I don't know. We're going to have a deficit. I don’t know what we're going to do about it? I would hope that we're reaching a point. If not, next in the next fiscal year, the one succeeding that in the President’s second term, of having a balanced budget, I think this is the President's goal. I don't think he's really giving up on that. I think, but I think he also understands that we have a vast unemployment we can't tolerate as a nation, not politically, but as a nation, as over 6 or 7%. And I think this has brought about the hard choice of a deficit.

Les Higbie: Mr. Sidey.

Hugh Sidey: Well, Senator, let's go on down that road a little further, if we may. Well, you seem somewhat nervous and uncertain. Much as, in my judgment, the administration seems about some of its economic policies. One year, we are told a balanced budget is the salvation of the nation. The next year, we're told that a deficit budget is a salvation. So, there is some uncertainty, at least in my mind. Do you have any feelings about what should be done now? Should we have wage and price control? Should there be a tougher line with unions, at least more jawboning? Should there be efforts to trim more out of the budget to cut these deficits down? What's your feeling?

Bob Dole: Well, I've heard the president say very flatly, there’ll be no wage and price controls in his administration. So, I assume that would foreclose that. He's also said there will be no wage and price review board, which was suggested by Arthur Burns, the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. I think there has been an indication, as evidenced by the president's conversation with management, labor leaders, and so far as steel is concerned that there is a little more quote jawboning, maybe not as aggressive as in the past, but at least an indication that there is great presidential leverage. But on the other hand, I think the President feels that he's probably occupying a middle course and that it's going to pay off. It's going to bring about stability. And I think this is the course he's followed and will probably continue to follow.

Hugh Sidey: Would you, Senator, then pronounce yourself pretty much in favor of his so-called game plan, which right now is to do the same thing he has been doing and let John Connally, a former Democrat, lead the chairs?

Bob Dole: After the game plan, I just don’t want it to go into extra innings and I think that's the problem that some of us face who are on the ballot. I’m not on the ballot next year, but I know many who are nervous about a tie game and they want it to come about to with a little more speed. They support the president's plan. They're not certain some of them what it is. And I don't think it's ever been really clearly defined. I don't say that in criticism of the President or those around the President. Maybe it can't be defined. I don't think anybody can define what we're going to do in the economy precisely, but I look upon John Connally as a very strong man. He projects, I think he exudes confidence, I think he's brought about a certain degree of confidence among the business community. And we've talked with business leaders who seem to think it's rocking along pretty well.

Les Higbie: Mr. Doyle.

James Doyle: Senator, how does the Nixon administration justify continued military aid to Pakistan when the world community has condemned that government for its military actions in East Pakistan and when the International Consortium has even recommended a cut off of economic aid because the government is using so much of its economic resources to put down its trouble in East Pakistan?

Bob Dole: Well I'd have to confess, on this issue I’m probably not too competent to comment. I know there's a move afoot now in the Senate by 20-some senators to cut off the military aid. I couldn't tell you honestly why or how the administration justifies continued participation and wouldn't attempt to.

James Doyle: Well without embarrassing you, I'd like to push the question to Greece. Where a military junta has taken over and where aid is continuing. Is your answer the same?

Bob Dole: Basically the same.

James Doyle: The House yesterday, or a House panel, voted to cut off aid to both Pakistan and Greece. What’s your feeling about that?
Bob Dole: Well, having served in the House for eight years. Which panel was it, military?

James Doyle: I think it was a Foreign Relations subcommittee, but I'm not sure.

Bob Dole : Well, when you get into the foreign relations committees in the House and Senate, you have to look beyond the vote and I'm not certain who's on that subcommittee, I've forgotten, but it may or may not reflect the view of the great majority of the House members. I don't think our Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate often reflects a view of the Senate because it’s pretty well stacked.

Les Higbie: Mr. Kilpatrick.

James Kilpatrick: Let me pursue these foreign questions a moment as to China, returning to that point. Would you now be satisfied that the President is prepared, if not to recommend, the seating of Communist China in the United Nations, at least to make no further opposition to it?

Bob Dole: I really don't know and I think if this interview following as closely as it does the announcement of the President, it would be purely speculation. I think we'd have to. Very candidly said, it's certainly a great recognition for the President of our country to visit the country we don't even have diplomatic relations with and in the course of six or seven months.

James Kilpatrick: Well, Senator, but wouldn't that be a fair reading? Wouldn't it now be impossible for Mr. Nixon, having accepted with pleasure this invitation to oppose the seating of Red China in the UN?
Bob Dole: I would assume that's a very valid conclusion.
James Kilpatrick: This is a cutting off of, really, of our ties with nationalist China is it not?

Bob Dole: Probably in so far, well, maybe in so far as the UN is concerned. Perhaps not otherwise. I'm going to be in Taiwan sometime in August. Maybe I'll find out.

James Kilpatrick: You’ll have a lot of questions to answer.
Bob Dole: Right, I'm going to do a lot of studying.

Les Higbie: Mr. Sidey

Hugh Sidey: Senator, you have been criticized as a hatchet man, a fellow who practices what is sometimes known as gut bucket politics and is tough, hard when you get out talking for the party. I wonder if you feel that this is a valid technique. Obviously you do today, but let me cast it in this light: some people have said that 1970 indicated that this kind of hard, tough adversary campaigning was a failure. I wonder if you might comment on your continuing approach in this time.

Bob Dole: Well, we don't of course, first of all, consider ourselves as a hatchet man any more than I assume some would consider Larry O'Brien. I think we have a responsibility to our party. We have so many senators who want to be President that I have daily contact with these people. We've tried to avoid personal criticism, we have attempted, I think very properly so, to tell the people we've talked to what these now-candidates were saying in the years past. Now, if that's being a hatchet man, then I assume that's being a hatchet man. But I think the American people are entitled to know who voted for the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964, Muskie and McGovern and all these people who now say they were disciples of peace for the past 20 years. So, we certainly don't want to be cast in that role. I hope we have more to offer than just simply going out and criticizing every Democrat. We get along quite well with many of the Democrat contenders. Senator Humphrey has asked that I mention him earlier in my speeches, so he'll get on the wire. [laughter in background] So, we have a little working relationship. We try to use a rotation plan where we criticize them in some order.
[laughter in background]

Hugh Sidey: What would you judge for 1972 as we approach the presidential campaign, would it be a little more moderate in tone than 1970, or would it be –

Bob Dole: I think it's going to be a very high level campaign. The president says we're going to win because we're for something. And then he names what he has in mind: draft reform, welfare reform, government reorganization, revenue sharing, just to name a few. I've never been convinced as a practicing politician that people vote for you because you're for something. Let's take welfare reform. I think they're probably a rather strong opinion, but that's not politically wise. Revenue sharing may be popular with mayors and governors because they want more money, but you get down to the grassroots area, I don't find many people jumping out of their seats when I mention revenue sharing. But I think on balance, it’s going to be a very high level campaign.

Les Higbie: We'll continue the questioning in a moment. You're listening to press Conference USA, broadcast each week at this time by the Voice of America. Our guest is Senator Robert J. Dole of Kansas, the Republican National chairman. Correspondents asking the questions are James Doyle, Washington Evening Star, James J. Kilpatrick, syndicated columnist, and Hugh Sidey, Washington Bureau Chief, Time, Life magazines. Mr. Doyle, would you continue?

James Doyle: Senator, given the history of the Republican Party's involvement in opposition to Red China and the president's own personal history in this regard, I would imagine when you heard the announcement last night that there must have come to your mind immediately some of the dangers involved with this kind of an opening toward Red China. Could you tell us what you thought along that line?

Bob Dole: Well, I never thought it would happen in the first place, but I mean, I was as surprised as everyone else. We were expecting perhaps some announcement on Vietnam or prisoners of war, as everyone else was. But beyond that, I think if we look back now at what the president said a few weeks ago when he said he might like to visit Red China or Mainland China, it's probably not such a great surprise. I think the surprise was that Kissinger was there and back without anyone knowing it. I think there's going to be some anguish among Republicans and I, but again, I think the President has tried to make it clear he understands there will be some controversy. I think generally it's been rather widely acclaimed, and I've done a little checking around this morning with Democrats and Republicans. I think we're all cautious but maybe cautiously optimistic. This doesn't mean we're going to embrace their ideology or their philosophy or suddenly turn our backs on our friends in the world. I don't think President Nixon's ever dealt from weakness, I don't think he's ever been timid. He's never given any concession. I think he's always asked for a quid pro quo. And he understands the mistakes been made by past presidents. And I just don't see Nixon falling into that trap.

James Doyle: Some of the first reactions by some conservatives opposed, I'm thinking of Senator Tower and Senator Dominick, took the line that the president has a lot of explaining to do, that this was quite a shock. Does that give you the impression that part of the political problem is going to be a new educational campaign on just what it means? President got into this a little bit last night.

Bob Dole: Well, I think it might be. Well, it's rather shrouded in mystery at this point that everybody can speculate, and I assume there will be more and more information coming forth in the next few days, few weeks, and few months. But I think any of us should hesitate to jump to any conclusion based simply on the announcement. I think it's a dramatic announcement. I think it may be far reaching. It may not be. And to either denounce or acclaim at this point might be premature.

Les Higbie: But you're satisfied, Senator, are you not, that the political gains will outweigh the losses from this move with Red China?

Bob Dole: Well, I really haven't tried to make that judgment, but I assume there would be some political gain. Depending of course, on what the President does. I visited with Senator Humphrey about this after the announcement. He thought it was a great stroke and said so publicly he'd like to go along.

Les Higbie: The president already has announced certain relaxations and trade barriers, and these have stirred up a reaction of outrage among some of the maritime unions, among others. Would you anticipate further relaxations in this area?

Bob Dole: I'm not so certain the maritime unions are opposed to trade from the standpoint of philosophy or ideology. I think it's a question of dollars because of the American provision requiring that 50% be Central American bottoms. So, I understand that this is going to be an economic factor not so much whether it's China, and I assume if there were some incentives they might have a different view. But really, we've had no, and I come from a fairly conservative state. I can't recall getting any flood of mail after the trade restrictions were relaxed. In fact, maybe 3 or 4 letters each way.

Les Higbie: Would you anticipate a greater tourist trade one of these days with mainland China?

Bob Dole: Well, I think so. I think it may be coming. I just don't know. I mean, I assume the President has some ideas, but he hasn't communicated those to me, in fact, I would guess he wouldn't want this to become a statement from the national chairman. If I'm making any statement on China, it’s been made as a senator from Kansas.

Les Higbie: Well, as a senator, how do you feel about diplomatic recognition of mainland China, ready for that?

Bob Dole: No, I'm not ready for it.

Les Higbie: You're speaking only as Senator Dole of Kansas.

Bob Dole: Right, I have to, yes.

Hugh Sidey: Senator, let me go back to a little history of recent days. That is the secret Pentagon Papers. You have taken a number of stands on that issue because there are a number of issues within the issue and everybody is somewhat split on it. But recently you were quite harsh in one of your judgments. If I may quote from something, one of your speeches, you said, “No longer can heads of state be sure that their private talks, so essential in intercourse between nations, will remain private. They are at the mercy of every disgruntled person with access to files. They are at the mercy, literally, of common thieves and men who violate their trust, and they are at the mercy of sensation seeking newspapers that, for whatever reason, commercial or political, disregard the interests of the American people in the interests of something they call quote the right to know.” Do you consider Daniel Ellsberg a common thief?

Bob Dole: Well, I think that judgment [should be] made by the courts. I think if he's violated the law, he should be prosecuted. I didn't mention any names. I think it's a rather fair statement. I don't back away from It. I think we have this consideration if we're going to deal with foreign governments, this doesn't mean we deceive the American people. And I think a careful reading of the Supreme Court decision would make you think on second thought, that perhaps it really wasn't the victory the press claimed it to be, or some of the press. I think 6 of the 9 justices, the three dissenters and three others, indicated there might be possible criminal violations. I'm not really exercised about printing of the Pentagon Papers or the McNamara Papers. I think it does raise some serious questions. I was able to sleep at night with the story printed.

Hugh Sidey: What about, you mentioned here, would you consider the New York Times or the Post, and I guess the Boston Globe and others sensation-seeking newspapers, as you suggest?

Bob Dole: Right, I think so. That may not be a fault. It may be a plus. I would guess they're looking for sensational news every day. And this certainly was in that category.

Hugh Sidey: Well, I wasn't in the impression that you had that in mind here. I thought this was, you were criticizing them -

Bob Dole: It was fairly critical.

Hugh Sidey: - as more as somewhat of a commercial operation that they wanted the headlines and that for their own prestige.

Bob Dole: Well, I think that's partly true. And I think there are some questions that have yet to be answered. That sort of thing. I said just recently that it's going to be a tough decision for the Attorney General whether to proceed criminally against Ellsberg or anyone else who may be involved, but from a political standpoint, and it's going to be difficult to separate politics from, strictly, the legal questions involved insofar as violation of any criminal statute might be concerned. And that's a judgment he has to make. And I don’t envy him in that judgment because it may politically, I think if there's a prosecution, it will stir up the anti-war sentiment again and it'll be a minus for the Republican Party and for the administration. But I assume that if there's been a violation of a criminal law, you disregard the political impact to some extent.

Les Higbie: Mr. Doyle

James Doyle: Senator, one of the most frequent criticisms of the Nixon administration, both from the in the appointment of federal judges and in the application, the attempt to get new laws, has been that it has too little regard for the Constitution and for the rule of law. You say you're not too exercised by the printing of the Pentagon Papers, and yet that prompted this administration to make the most widespread, unprecedented effort in the history of our Constitution against a series of American newspapers. What I don't understand why that was necessary?

Bob Dole: Well, I'm not certain because I wasn't a party to that decision, of course. It was a decision apparently made by the Attorney General and those around the attorney general, I think based on the assumption that the papers might contain something harmful to our national interest, and that's a judgment he made. He may not have relished the thought of going to court, but he made that judgment. The court has made their judgment, and I haven't seen the attorney general turning any handsprings. I think he felt duty bound to do it. Whether he made a mistake or not, I don't know. But I support him in what he's done. But I think it was based on a good faith judgement. I think other countries may have expected us, at least to try to stop the publication of those parts that might be harmful, but here again the court cautioned the press generally to be careful in what they print. So, I don't think it was any clear-cut decision by the Supreme Court. And I don't think it's any condemnation of the attorney general or the administration because the court ruled six to three that the papers could be printed.

James Doyle: Senator, let me get back to politics again. You were quoted on American radio as saying that there must be a reason for Vice President Agnew's trip to 10 nations abroad in Asia, Africa, and Europe. But the clear impression was that you had no idea what that reason was.
Bob Dole: Well, that's true. I mean, I didn't send him. My point was I assume that he's with the President, and the President says take a trip around the world or somewhere and do the following. But I wasn't being – well, I was trying to be very candid. I don't know why he went around the world, but I assume there was a reason and I'm certain there was a reason and I'm certain he's going to be on the ticket in ’72. I'm certain, but I don't have any voice.

James Doyle: You know, the Democrats have said this was a goodbye present.
Bob Dole: Well, that's wishful thinking. It indicates his strength. And when the Democrats start worrying about Agnew, it means to me that he must be picking up strength around the country.

Les Higbie: Mr. Fitzpatrick.

James Kilpatrick: Let me return to the Pentagon Papers, if I may, Senator Dole. It seemed apparent over the past month since all this blew up, that the law about prohibiting publication of these papers is right weak. Would you favor any sort of new legislation in this field?

Bob Dole: I think it might be helpful and the law is very weak, not only weak, it's very ambiguous and --

James J. Kilpatrick: It's necessary to prove what the defendant believed would be the effect of his action.

Bob Dole: Right. In other words, it's subjective and I think we have to clarify the law. Not to suppress things, not to be oppressive, but to serve notice on those who might publish something in the future.
James J. Kilpatrick: Do you know of any efforts to tighten up the law?
Bob Dole: I know of none. I've suggested that we have a secret session of the Senate just for the benefit of some of the new senators, myself included. What are we at liberty to disclose? Because that's a little fuzzy too, if you check it out.

James J. Kilpatrick: Yes.

Les Higbie: Mr. Sidey, one quick question.

Hugh Sidey: One quick question, Senator, who's going to run against whom next year? Mr. Nixon against whom, or what presidential candidate?
Bob Dole: The president hasn't said he'd run, but if he doesn’t then we've got a lot of stuff to throw away at the National Committee. And I assume I consider Humphrey probably the strongest contender, but I consider Edward Kennedy a very serious non candidate. He's a very busy man. I see Senator Hughes is bowing out, I never thought he'd bowed in. But in any event there are a number of candidates in the Senate. In fact, every day there's a new one.

Les Higbie: Thank you, gentlemen, I'm sorry our time is up. Thank you, Senator Dole. Thank you, members of the press. Our guest has been Senator Robert J. Dole of Kansas, the Republican National Chairman. Correspondents on our panel included James Doyle, Washington Evening Star, James J. Kilpatrick, syndicated columnist, and Hugh Sidey, Washington Bureau Chief Time, Life magazines. This is Les Higbie in Washington.
[transition music]

Narrator: You have been listening to Press Conference USA, broadcast by the Voice of America. Join us next week at this time for another unrehearsed discussion on Press Conference USA.
[outro music]

Voice of America "Press Conference USA"

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