let s be honest, bob dome was always honest, sometimes to a fault. he once endured the wrath of his fellow republicans when there was a legitimate fight going on to defund amtrak. now, i have traveled over 1,200,000 miles on amtrak because i commuted every single day. it came time for literally the deciding vote, the deciding vote on whether we were going to defund amtrak. and he cast the vote against his party, deciding to keep funding amtrak. and obviously he was asked why. why would you do that? he says, the best way to get joe biden the hell out of here at night so he s not hanging around. excuse my language.
true story. absolutely true story. god, i loved the guy. as i said, he was always honest. but bob relished a good political fight, much as anybody i ve ever served with in the 36 years i was in the senate. and bob gave as good or better than he got. he was a proud republican. he chaired his party. he managed caucus in the united states senate, and he bore the banner as its nominee for vice president and president of the united states. he could be partisan, and that was fine. americans have been partisan since jefferson and hamilton, squared off in george washington s cabinet. but like them, bob dome was a patriot. he was a patriot.
friends and seeing eye to eye on many occasions. and bob dole ran an atrocious campaign in 1996 which he later acknowledged, but i want to tell quickly one story about another political adversely. there was enormous tension between george herbert walker bush and bob dome they real disliked each other. bob dole saw him as someone who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and bob dole lived a hardscrabble life and even they became friendly after he left pour. one of the better photo, of them was him saluting the casket. we did pull that video, tim. so glad you helped explain the contrast of hour their relations were and then how it culminated
unleading on newt gingrich and now the 1996 former senate majority leader who was considered a partner of newt gingrich, bob doles has sent an open letter to the public and it slammed newt gingrich, too. if newt gingrich is the nominee, it will have an adverse effect on republican candidates running for county, state and federal offices, and hardly anyone who serves with newt in congress has endorsed him and that fact speaks for itself, and bob dome joining the attack on newt gingrich. it is clear those who served with him in washington in roger numbers are now coming forward and speaking out, trying to stop the newt gingrich surge. it is that close, the establishment threatened by the foam house speaker and they are speaking out trying to halt him today. shepard: where are rick santorum and ron paul? reporter: ron paul has his emphasize in maine as preparation for the upcoming caucuses in maine the same day