From the New York Times, reprinted in the Wilmington Star-News

7/22/06:The tables were loaded with untouched platters of food as Sen. Elizabeth Dole rose last week to introduce her party's Senate candidate from Nebraska. Sixty people were supposed to be at the fund-raiser, but Dole, the host and leader of the Republican effort to hold the Senate this fall, found just 18 people scattered across a vast expanse of empty carpet.

Dole has been a nearly unstoppable star for 25 years: the first female Cabinet secretary [NYT issued correction], the head of the Red Cross and a popular senator from North Carolina, never mind the wife of Bob Dole, the former Senate majority leader and Republican presidential nominee.

But going into the most competitive congressional election in 12 years, some Republicans say Dole is faltering in her latest job, as head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which raises money, recruits candidates, plots strategy and shapes the party's message.

She has been lapped in fundraising by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The latest filing, on Thursday, showed Democrats with $37.7 million on hand, compared with $19.9 million for Republicans.

If Senate Republicans are unable to close the gap, it will force the Republican National Committee to step in with financial support in tight Senate races - it had $45 million on hand as of Thursday - creating tensions with House Republicans who want that money used to help them.

For all her star power, Dole, who turns 70 on Saturday, has not had much of a public profile this year, leaving her party at a disadvantage in parrying attacks from her assertive Democratic counterpart, Sen. Charles Schumer of New York.

She failed to find strong candidates to run against vulnerable Senate Democrats in at least four states, a shortcoming that could also be partly attributed to the White House, which has often played a crucial role in candidate recruitment.

However the blame is apportioned, the party has been left without a high-profile candidate who can take advantage of the few opportunities open to Republicans this year, like Connecticut, where Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the Democrat, has been distracted by a challenge from the left and said he would run as an independent if he lost the primary.

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