Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole would like to see Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, as the Republican nominee against President Obama in 2012.
“We’re due for another Eisenhower,” the 87-year-old Dole said during a weekend visit to his hometown of Russell, Kansas. “It’s time for somebody that the American people can have confidence in.”
Dole, who sought the presidency on three occasions — losing bids for his party’s nomination in 1980 and 1988 before running unsuccessfully as the Republican nominee against Bill Clinton in 1996 — expressed concern for the country’s future.
“We’ve got to restrain spending,” he said.
Though he has been in and out of the Walter Reed Medical Center for most of this past year, the ailing Dole — making his first visit to his hometown in three years — still possesses his legendary dry sense of humor, which he was more than happy to share with the folks back home.
Complimenting President Obama’s superb communication skills, the former Kansas lawmaker couldn’t resist a dig at the Democratic president, whom he conceded will be difficult to defeat next year. “As long as the teleprompter is working, he’ll be okay,” quipped the party elder.
Petraeus, who has previously dismissed the idea of a presidential candidacy, was recently nominated by President Obama to head the CIA, replacing Leon Panetta who was nominated to be Secretary of Defense.
Petraeus, incidentally, lists his official residence in New Hampshire, site of the first-in-the-nation primary.
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