European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 9, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes wednesday april 9, 1986 columns Flora Lewis Larouche people not Good at answering questions there was an hour Between planes. A Man behind two brochure Laden card tables was calling out in a mid Way voice step up and learn about our space so i approached. I had always wondered about the intense Young people who Man the Lyndon Larouche stands but i d always been in too much of a hurry to Stop and talk to them. The sign said things like better beams in space than soviet missiles Here and Send Gramm and Rudman to Siberia and support nuclear Why do you Back him i asked in a conversational tone. He glowered and replied do you support our space program i mean Why arc you for Larouche do you or Don t you want a Strong defense of i Sec you ask questions but you Don t answer he was thin with Short tightly curled hair and his ferret face was getting redder and More tense by the moment. His voice wary from the Start became hostile. Do you want to buy some literature i said i was More interested in hearing him explain his Point of View. Clearly he was annoyed but he accepted what he took As an unavoidable Challenge. He s against Liberal traitors and i m against Liberal and what do you mean by that the Pale Young woman behind the adjoining card table came to her Comrade s Rescue. He was a Hawker not a talker. Do you know the word Patriot she asked accusingly. An elderly Man with a cozy smile wan dered up and they turned to him in Relief pointedly ignoring me. Maybe it was my voice maybe my clothes i Don t know How they decided so quickly to consider just another Airport transient As the enemy. But they did. I was t looking for a fight i was just curious. The whole conversation lasted less than two minutes and would obviously get nowhere. As it happened i was on my Way to Austin for a conference at the University of Texas entitled the future of . Relations lessons from 40 years without world the idea we were told was that for All the troubles something must have gone right and if we could figure out How 40 years without world War were achieved we might be Able to keep peace for at least another 40 years. There were current and former officials from the National Security Council the state department the Penta gon the Cia academics and scientists of note and a few important russians at the conference. There were arguments of course and keen awareness of the fact that hostility Between the United states and the soviet Union Tom Wicker owl pfc. Whales have aids. Now How codes that help \ against Thompson is the biggest danger for the world. But compared with the Larouche people s reaction to a casual questioner responding to their invitation to step up and be informed the atmosphere was positively Amia ble. Among americans and russians there was no Trou ble agreeing that Security and survival were the prime and common needs for everybody. At his Summit with Mikhail Gorbachev president Reagan indulged in the fantasy that if the Earth faced an invasion by martians quarrels would be quickly set aside in the common defense of our planet. When the reference was made in Austin Helmut son Nanfeldt a former National Security Council member said whimsically that he objected on behalf of martians who should t be presumed to be hostile. It was a Good Point and a reminder of the question about the la Rouche people. Whom Are they so instinctively against and Why at the time of the Industrial Summit in Bonn last year elections were approaching for the important West Ger Man state of nor Rhein westfalen. Reagan and All the rest of us on the Trail came to a town where Lamppost after Lamppost was emblazoned with posters carrying snide thinly disguised Neo Qazi messages. On investigation it turned out they were organized by Larouche. His candidates got nowhere in the German elections but they tincture the atmosphere. His people made a pitch in France. There is no sign that they had any involvement with the extreme right Wing party of Jean Marie be pen but they stood on the main streets of Paris shouting the same Call to arms that they pitch at Dallas Dulles Kennedy Etc. They have disappeared from Paris presumably because of French resistance to such a foreign Brand of Rabid xenophobia. This is a time when americans Are worried about All kinds of fanatics for Good cause. And free speech and free press require us to tolerate our own fanatics. But we have the right to question them in a civil Way and if they can t give a civil answer they reveal themselves incapable of the rational discourse on which democracy depends. C new York times Mario Cuomo finds himself at political Crossroads Mario Cuomo is reported to be impaled on the horns of a political dilemma to run or not to run if so for what whether tis a shrewder course to suffer soon the slings and arrows of a National race or staunchly to stand Pat in Albany but seek no Refuge in Wise Sherman s oath. Well As a former governor named Rockefeller could Tell Cuomo he could stand around a Long time waiting for a draft. But if he really is pondering such a Choice bet Ter advice is available from the author of the lines paraphrased above who Ante dated this primary system but knew some thing about real life. Shakespeare caused Hamlet to inquire whether even in this weary life Wise men should not. Rather Bear those ills we have than Fly to others that we know not of Why then should Mario Cuomo give up an almost certain re election Triumph to Gether with the distinction and advantages of continued leadership in the second most populous state to embark upon a three year Campaign for a presidential nomination he might not win in any Case and his chances for which would not necessarily be improved much less guaranteed by the abdication of his important office that redoubtable political soothsayer Bob Strauss has told the governor that it is important for an insufficiently known presidential candidate to be walking the streets and knocking on the doors in new Hamp Shire and going Block to Block in True and the responsibilities of major of fice also would inhibit the necessary organizational and fund raising activities of a serious presidential candidacy. At least partially for these reasons How Ard Baker has retired from the Senate and May seek the Republican nomination Gary Hart has decided to do the same on the democratic Side. In 1976 and 1980, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan were successful As full time candidates. H but has anyone other than family and friends heard of Baker lately and was t Hart s decision prompted in part by a triple Decker Money problem paying off a big 1984 debt financing a Tough 1986_ Senate race and building a Treasury for a 1988 White House Campaign How these retirements will pay off in actual Campaign advantages remains to be seen. Besides democrats in 1988 will want a proven Winner perhaps More than any thing else. You Don t show yourself a win Ner by withdrawing but if Cuomo is re elected in new York by any decent margin hell have done it. He does t need a land slide. And if he has no serious challenger hell Only seem to have scared off opposition. Beyond that democrats need not Only a vote getter but a candidate who can Artic ulate ideas and personify a leadership that will attract Back into the fold those tempted elsewhere by Reagan ism. One of those advising Cuomo to focus now on the White House is James a. Johnson the chairman of Walter Mondale s Campaign a Well organized Effort that concentrated on win Ning the nomination to the detriment of winning the election. With All due respect to Jim Johnson the democrats need some one who can do both. An italian Catholic Liberal with a new York accent is not necessarily the answer to that party s prayers and Cuomo s a peal in the South and West is largely unproven. Meeting a governor s responsibilities in Albany while organizing and financing a National Campaign would be a formidable problem. Moving about the Pri Mary states in search of delegates even to the minimum necessary extent would greatly complicate it. But the governor of a great state presenting and achieving a program dramatizing a vision is far More impressive than an ambitious vote seeker grubbing Block by Block through Des Moines or flaunting his form in one dreary cattle show after another. And by now the voters May even favor a candidate who does t seem to covet the office enough to demean himself or herself to win it. New yorkers certainly Are accustomed to governors who attract legitimate presidential consideration Ai Smith Franklin Roosevelt Averell Harriman Thomas e. Dewey Nelson Rockefeller and most would Welcome Mario Cuomo to the line. They and the rest of the Ameri can people expect a president to be Able to meet great challenges and surmount Large so Cuomo has Good reason to conclude is still the Best Campaign. C new York times
