c. 1999 Religion News Service

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. _ Possible Republican presidential contender Elizabeth Dole Wednesday (Feb. 17) delivered a speech about faith and values that was short on specifics but filled with energy to some 1,000 evangelical leaders.

Dole received a warm standing ovation following her introduction as”the kind of person of whom presidents are made”at the annual meeting of the Christian Management Association, an organization that provides training and networking for executives of more than 1,600 member evangelical churches and religious organizations.

In an upbeat, 40-minute speech short, Dole addressed her listeners as”fellow Christians”and said the key to both individual salvation and national renewal was the willingness to”submit ourselves to the authority of a moral order.” Dole had the audience roaring with laughter as she shared anecdotes from her months on the 1996 campaign trail with her husband and then-Republican presidential nominee Bob. She also brought them to a hushed silence as she described the challenges facing America.

Dole, who has yet to say definitively if she will seek the White House, said the country’s challenges could only be met by a wholesale return to the virtues of faith, discipline, integrity, civility and personal responsibility.

After giving her another standing ovation following her speech, the audience paused to pray for Dole, a woman CMA Chairman Mark Holbrook said faces an imminent decision”which could change the course of history.” Leading the quiet crowd in prayer, Holbrook asked God to”guard her heart,””draw her closer to you,”and provide”your hand of guidance.” Dole’s reception here contrasted with some of the treatment she has received from conservative Christian political activists in Washington. Earlier this month, she was not invited by a group of prominent religious and social conservatives who interviewed a half-dozen other possible Republican presidential candidates in an effort to find one they could all unite behind.

John Pearson, CMA’s chief executive officer, said Dole accepted the organization’s speaking invitation last July, six months before she resigned her position as president of the American Red Cross.”We thought it would be great to hear from a committed Christian woman who is leading one of the largest charities in America,”said Pearson.”She understands the leadership challenges colleagues in Christian organizations and larger churches face.” Since she took the helm of the American Red Cross in 1991, Dole _ a lifelong Methodist who currently attends National Presbyterian Church in Washington with her husband _ has emerged as one of America’s most respected women.

In recent years she has spoken to prominent evangelical groups, including the Evangelical Press Association and the National Religious Broadcasters, which honored her with a major award earlier this month.

And even though some CMA members say they prefer conservative Christian presidential candidate Gary Bauer’s hard-line positions on abortion and homosexuality to Dole’s more moderate and expansive views, CMA members who commented on Dole before her speech said they respected her integrity and character.”I have a great deal of faith in her ability as a leader,”said Robert Taylor, an executive with Tyrone, Ga.-based Operation Mobilization USA, an international missionary agency.”I feel stronger about her than I did about her husband, and I voted for him.” Taylor and others said they wanted to know more about Dole’s Christian faith, and how her faith might impact her policies. And although her speech was vague on specifics, it contained numerous explicit references to what she said was both her family’s and the nation’s deep Christian heritage.

Leaving the podium to roam the platform, Dole used harsh language to drive home her criticism of the unintended consequences of the”muddled idealism of the ’60s.” While an emphasis on freedom and tolerance brought”amazing advances”in civil rights and other areas, the country also”lost so much,”she said.”We now have a pornographic culture,”she said,”a society that no longer blushes.” As a result, both government and private institutions have encouraged a widespread”substitution of regulation for responsibility,”a response Dole portrayed as an ill-fated and”artificial self-righteousness.” Dole said we”will never be able to write enough rules”to make up for a lack of individual and national character. As for the federal government, Dole said it had become”too big, too bloated, too complex, and too bureaucratic.” Disenchantment with government has led many to give up on public or community service, she added.”They have pulled inward rather than looking outward,”Dole said.

Dole praised her listeners for”doing the Lord’s work,”and hailed public service as both a noble calling and a moral duty.”When we are blessed, we are duty-bound to pass our blessings on to others,”she said.

Dole did not mention President Clinton’s impeachment problems.

(STORY CAN END HERE. OPTIONAL TRIM BELOW.)

Dole stopped short of announcing whether she would form an exploratory committee for a presidential run, a decision an aide said would be made”very soon.”And while many attending the CMA conference said they would welcome a Dole candidacy, not all were completely won over.

Elaine Ham is the director of the Piedmont Women’s Center in Greer, S.C., an anti-abortion ministry that offers free pregnancy tests and counseling.

Before Dole’s speech, Ham was hopeful.”I admire her tremendously, she’s a great spokesperson for many of the causes I believe in and hold dear, and as a woman I’m very proud she might be running.” Ham, whose group is hosting Bauer for a fund-raising event next month, had hoped Dole would make an explicit declaration against abortion. But she left disappointed on that score.”I’m still waiting,”said Ham.

IR END RABEY