CAMPAIGN MEMO: WHERE'S LIDDY?

By TAMALA M. EDWARDS

Bob Dole says he's out to close the gender gap, yet his campaign is not using its greatest asset with working women: Liddy. Since her boffo show in San Diego, Elizabeth has gone under the national radar. She spends most of her time in places like Dover, Delaware, and Knoxville, Tennessee--not exactly major markets. She makes a fleeting appearance in one ad. The press is usually not allowed on her plane. What's more, she's rarely at her husband's side. And when she is, she almost never makes any remarks. The campaign says that Elizabeth will be seen more--this week she's on the Tonight Show--but the established routine will hold. Conventional wisdom says First Ladies don't impact elections. But it doesn't make sense for the campaign to turn its popular steel magnolia into a wallflower.

--Tamala M. Edwards