GOP Women, Dole’s Pension

Re “Women of Influence Feel Estranged From the GOP,� June 2:

The Los Angeles County Republican Women, Federated is the largest all-volunteer, political organization in the nation. In L.A. County, we are 7,000 strong. Though the press has portrayed women as generally disenfranchised by the Republican Party, I beg to differ. The federation shares the same status as our male counterparts in the local, state and national party. We make appointments to the central committee, groom candidates and campaign managers, hold workshops to determine recommendations on voting measures, and strive to educate our members to the fullest. We are the backbone of the state’s party.

I was sorry that these women did not come to us. Republican politicians look to the Republican Women, Federated when they need to know or to inform. They know that our viewpoints will be well-informed and well-researched. They know that we function as wives, mothers, executives and CEOs, secretaries and teachers, who interact within our community. Our meetings are open to the public.

VICTORIA A. TALBOT

2nd Vice President, L.A. County

Republican Women, Federated

Alhambra

* Bob Dole has announced that the Republican Party will now “tolerate� pro-choice Republicans while continuing to be “pro-life� (June 11). Anyone who believes that this grudging concession is going to make a difference in the election outcome is living in a different universe from the voters.

Right now, women are legally allowed to control their reproductive systems. Dole supports a party platform that says that if elected, he will seek to introduce a constitutional amendment to take away that right. Those of us who consider this a significant issue--the ones presumably for whose benefit the statement was made--are not going to support such a candidate.

Apparently Republican Party leaders are going to have to lose a few more presidential elections before they understand this point.

PAIGE GOLD

Republican Task Force Chair

National Women’s Political Caucus

of California, Los Angeles

* Regarding the story on Dole’s pension, June 12: As a lifelong Democrat who is utterly opposed to the election of Dole as president, even I have to wonder at the editorial motivation that placed a prominent story regarding the size of Dole’s pension on the same inside page as the story about his final day in the Senate.

After spending eight difficult years in the military and 35 years in Congress--essentially devoting his entire adult life to public service--he deserves every penny.

WILL C. CROWDER

Camarillo

* It is hard to think of Dole as making a sacrifice in giving up his Senate seat. The 72-year-old is long past the age when most people retire (often forced), and with an annual pension of at least $107,000--not to mention additional money from Social Security and the military.

Since I am facing retirement due to illness at a younger age and at about 15% of what Dole will receive, I can clearly understand why he shows such little compassion for the problems most of us live with.

JEANETTE CALNEK

Riverside

* Re Robert Scheer’s June 11 Column Left about Dole’s dilemma with abortion control, I would like to add the following:

There is an interesting and ironic twist to both the abortion and the gun control issues. Both have armies of single-issue voters ready to march their precincts and contribute to Republican campaigns. Dole cannot drop the antiabortion nor the gun control plank from the Republican platform. But neither can he resolve either issue. He must keep the pot boiling for the shock troops to be energized. If either of the issues gets settled he would lose the support of its advocates.

I always thought that Ronald Reagan was the master of this con game. He knew how to press just hard enough to keep the troops excited but not hard enough for anything ever to be accomplished.

JOHN FERGUSON

Orange