The Christian Science Monitor
ran 2/5
By Kurt Shillinger
Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
IT'S hard to tell if Sen. Bob Dole would find much comfort in Bonnie 
Bergstrom's kitchen. The steaming banana bread is delicious but the tone of the 
political palaver is less sustaining.
Mrs. Bergstrom and a half dozen other undecided Iowans gathered around her 
teakettle on a recent afternoon to consider the Republican nomination race. 
Their conclusions, and how they reached them, help explain why Mr. Dole is 
suddenly sliding in the polls, but also why he may prevail in the end.
The group, all self-described moderate conservatives, shares an average 
understanding of the candidates. They've seen their TV ads, watched them 
debate, read occasional newspaper articles, and heard headlines on the radio.
Representing a variety of professions, ages, and family circumstances, these 
voters spent three hours discussing a range of prominent issues. They assessed 
President Clinton's performance 
and each Republican candidate's message.
While certainly not a scientific forum, the session provides a snapshot of 
Republican voters a week away from the Iowa caucus, a key event in the 1996 
presidential selection process. Echoing interviews with voters across Iowa and 
New Hampshire, the participants express little enthusiasm for the field of 
candidates.
In the end they form a consensus in support of Dole, but it is the kind of 
support the senator's rivals regard as proof of his vulnerability. Support that 
comes more by default than conviction.
"Bob Dole is running on his record but doesn't have a lot of new things to 
say," says Randy Bergstrom, a tax lawyer and Bonnie's husband. "I'm looking for 
candidate who is not going to rip up the economy without thought as to how to 
make the transition to a new tax code. Dole's not going to make waves.
The group first narrows the field down to what it sees as the viable candidates 
and the key issues. The candidates: Senators Dole, Gramm, and Richard Lugar of 
Indiana, and former Ambassador Alan Keyes. The issues included the federal 
budget, trade, tax reform, and education.
The group quickly rejects any candidate for appearing too negative or too 
conservative. That eliminates Pat Buchanan and Rep. Robert Dornan of 
California. No one thinks Morry Taylor is a serious contender. While a rising 
star in New Hampshire, Steve Forbes is bowed by inexperience and his incessant 
and negative ads.
Mrs. Bergstrom, an educator, thinks Pat Buchanan is too narrowly focused on 
abortion. Allen Spiller, who runs a temporary employment service, disagrees 
with Mr. Buchanan's foreign trade policies. "He's an isolationist if there ever 
was one. and we had a lot of those before World War II and look where that got 
us," Mr. Spiller says.
The group then looks for a candidate with leadership, integrity, and 
bipartisanship. Barby Harding says she agrees with what Mr. Keyes says about 
restoring the family, but Bergstrom thinks Keyes is unelectable and therefore 
leans toward Gramm.

OTHERS disqualify Keyes on the basis of experience. "A lot of nonpoliticians 
talk about how we need a nonpolitician and they are against compromise and 
everything," Spiller says. "If one of those guys ever gets elected and goes to 
Washington and sees what a completely mysterious system he's walked into, he 
isn't going to know how to do his job."
Both Spiller and David Furbush, vice president of a financial services firm, 
show an interest in Lugar. The problem, Mr. Furbush says, is that Lugar lacks 
luster. "Lugar has a very good message," he says, "especially the way he wants 
to address consumption and taxes. But I just can't get excited about his 
delivery."
All participants say balancing the budget makes this this election is 
particularly relevant.
"This whole business of the budget ­ we've got to straighten it out," says 
Harriet Russell, an account executive.
Furbush says balancing the budget is more important than a tax cut. "I'd rather 
do the hard work first and reap the benefits of tax cuts after. Under Reagan, 
it seems it me, we got all the tax cuts first and then we starting have the 
deficits run up."
Tax reform, the issue helping bolster Forbes, has do be done right, Mr. 
Bergstrom says. "We have a large pension business, we have a large group health 
business, we have a large health insurance business," he says of his company. 
"The flat tax coming in, done wrong or poorly transitioned, does away with all 
that, and we've suddenly got 12,000 employees looking for work."
None of the voters has particular grievances with President Clinton. They say 
they simply couldn't trust him. "I think Clinton would be a great guy to sit 
down a split a plate of fried chicken with," Spiller says
Mr. Bergstrom puts it another way: "When Clinton was first brought in I sure 
thought he was a used-car salesman ... But Congress has kept him in check. It 
hasn't hurt the economy too much."
Furbush and Mrs. Bergstrom are troubled by the swirl of allegations surrounding 
the Clintons. "I was glad Clinton got in because of Hillary, but now I'm not 
too certain about that," she says.
Ms. Russell says Clinton's military draft deferments bother her, and has a 
problem with both Gramm and Buchanan for the same reason. 
By this process of elimination, the gathering arrives at a consensus for Dole. 
It's the kind of support that reflects dissatisfaction with the field. It may 
or may not be the kind of conviction that brings voters out on caucus night.
(Copyright 1996, The Christian Science Publishing Society. Used by permission.)