GOSHEN — A huge crowd gathered in Goshen to see political legend Bob Dole. The former U.S. senator and presidential candidate took the stage to address a group of cancer survivors, and his message really hit home.
It was the story that gripped the nation last week, and despite being out of the political arena for years now, Bob Dole was right in the middle of it.
The former Kansas U.S. senator, Senate majority leader, 1976 Republican vice presidential candidate and 1996 Republican presidential candidate fired off a scathing email to former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan following the recent publication of his "tell all" book entitled "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and What's Wrong With Washington."
The email is posted below, as obtained by Politico.com, and posted by CBS News:
Scott,
There are miserable creatures like you in every administration who don't have the guts to speak up or quit if there are disagreements with the boss or colleagues. No, your type soaks up the benefits of power, revels in the limelight for years, then quits, and spurred on by greed, cashes in with a scathing critique.
In my nearly 36 years of public service I've known of a few like you. No doubt you will "clean up" as the liberal anti-Bush press will promote your belated concerns with wild enthusiasm. When the money starts rolling in you should donate it to a worthy cause, something like, "Biting The Hand That Fed Me." Another thought is to weasel your way back into the White House if a Democrat is elected. That would provide a good set up for a second book deal in a few years.
I have no intention of reading your "exposé" because if all these awful things were happening, and perhaps some may have been, you should have spoken up publicly like a man, or quit your cushy, high profile job. That would have taken integrity and courage but then you would have had credibility and your complaints could have been aired objectively. You're a hot ticket now but don't you, deep down, feel like a total ingrate?
BOB DOLE
A week later, during the appearance in Goshen, Dole refused to back down.
"He deserved it," said Dole, when asked about the email by WSBT. "You just don't do those things. It's not Republican or Democrat. It's not about loyalty."
And despite the fact that he says he hasn't, and won't read the book, Dole is now one of a growing number of current and former congressmen and senators calling for a congressional investigation.
"If there were things going on in the White House that should not have been going on, he should have quit and reported it to the Justice Department. I'd like to see him in front of a subcommittee with both hands -- or one hand raised, so we can find out the truth."
Still, Dole's visit to Goshen Sunday was not a politically motivated one, though he did offer a brief assessment on the upcoming presidential race.
"I did offer to join [presumptive Republican nominee John] McCain on the ticket to take care of the age issue," he said, eliciting a chorus of laughs from the room full of reporters. "But he hasn't called me back," he said, with a smile.
The laughs came easily for the 84-year-old former senator, who told the crowd at Goshen College's Music Center that he "wanted to be a comedian, but Congress paid more." Then, after pausing for a moment, he reflected "but I guess there's a lot of comedians there too."
Still, for all the comedic relief, Dole's primary message at Goshen Health System's fourth annual "True Celebration" event was a deadly serious one.
"I'm here to talk about cancer," he said. "It doesn't matter where you are in life, what your economic level is, or how many awards you have on the wall. Cancer is an equal opportunity problem."
And Dole knows that firsthand.
He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1991, and on Sunday, he joined with hundreds more at Goshen College standing up as a "cancer survivor."
"It's awesome," said breast cancer survivor Patricia Turco, of Goshen, upon seeing the crowd of survivors. "This is my life. This means everything. If it wasn't for the Goshen Cancer Center, I'd probably be up in heaven looking down on all this."
"It feels pretty awesome," echoed colon cancer survivor Joan Schwietert, of Middlebury. "If you have a pretty good chance, it makes you fight all the harder. This shows that anybody can beat this is they really try."
They are messages close to Dole's heart. A decade ago, following his failed presidential bid, he embarked on a nationwide tour with a message to men just like him: early detection saves lives.
"That was the key for me," he told reporters in a news conference before his keynote speech. "Sometimes men want to be macho, or say, 'I don't need a doctor.' But that's the smartest thing you can do for youself, and your family, is to get checked. It's not just about you."
Dole was a last minute replacement for former White House Press Secretary and Fox News Channel Anchor and Fox Radio Host Tony Snow who was unable to attend the event because of his own 3-year battle with cancer.
Dole spoke of Snow several times during his address, pointing out that he and Snow agree that health care needs to play a more central role in the upcoming election.
"Next year, whether you're Democrat or Republican, the big issue is going to be health care," he told reporters. "We have to look at the cost, the coverage, and the accessibility."
It's a message Goshen Health System's Vice President of Marketing Dr. Larry Brooks is embracing too. But he says Sunday's event illustrates another important message too.
"It shows that there is life after," he said. "It shows that there is hope. That's the main message we want to get across: that there is hope."
Goshen Health System also unveiled a new program called the "Cancer Survivors Network" during Sunday's event. It's goal, said Health System executives, is to connect cancer survivors with each other and develop customized "survivor plans" for each one.
Goshen Health System hopes to roll out the new program by the end of June.
