Dole arrived with little fanfare, shaking hands and rallying supporters for his wife, Elizabeth Dole, who is seeking reelection to the U.S. Senate this fall.

Dole began his tour of Smithfield with a quick breakfast at The Diner on Market Street, where he dined on a few pieces of toast while talking to Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell and Capt. David Daughtry. The former senator spoke briefly with Bizzell about “negative” media coverage and political advertisements about Elizabeth Dole, who was campaigning elsewhere in North Carolina on Tuesday.

The trio also spoke about a controversial program based on Section 287(g) of the federal Immigration and Nationality Act. The program, which Sen. Dole supports, gives local law enforcement limited federal power to enforce immigration laws. Bizzell heads a state committee that aims to help the federal government deport criminal illegal aliens.

Their discussion was quick and would be one of few overtly political moments during Bob Dole’s tour of the town. Dole also spent time Tuesday morning at Town Hall in Smithfield, at RBC Centura and First Citizens banks and at Central Marketing Inc., a tobacco warehouse.

Dole spoke with workers about everything from baseball and television to the tobacco buyout and the nationwide housing crunch. The former presidential candidate said he valued the time spent in small towns like Smithfield, in large part because of his own upbringing in a small town in Kansas.

“This is just the way I have campaigned all my life,” Dole said. “In elections, this is really what saved me.”

“I ran a close campaign in 1974, but I won because I had been to all those places like this,” he added. “Everyone is the same to me. People just want to know you’re listening to them. They’ll vote for you if they know you care about what’s on their minds.”