European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 14, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns Jim Fain the stars and stripes Bush Dukakis beneficiaries of weird mistakes for pompous Fatu Ity not even Arcco Lagiss worrying a Fossil Ioc can rival journalists pontificating on the cos Mic pulses thai predetermined an Clec lion outcome preferably one none of Ihm anticipated. We Are in an excruciatingly lengthy process of nominating for the presidency the two least stirring candidates since Calvin Coolidge and John w. Davis what brought us Down 1o this nerd City fatigue and disillusionment poll sters and pundits insist. We tired of hol Lywood Charisma and longed for Cool competence a risk Adverse electorate pined for risk Adverse candidates says the Washington Post in a Page one piece fraught with deep meaning. Maybe we did t Wani 10 fal in love in 1988," agrees democratic pollster Paul Maslin. Reflecting the overpowering Wisdom of Hencil 15 i nulls instead we opted for the political equivalent of Safe sen " All this pretentious nonsense and acres More 10 be printed before the Lack Luster Campaign is haunts itself is be cause journalists arc Hung up on pro fun Dily. Things never just happen in our world. We make them the Warp and Woof of history even if we have to invent trends to Fil. The Absurdity of existence is intolerable to us. We feel compelled to give it significance. Had Gary Hart won we d be preaching on the loosening of morality and lure of adultery. Hart lost because he acted dumb. Hoc he collared the Adul Tery Vole he d be the next president or take Pat Robertson please if he d managed to aim even to Small Hurri Cane he d be on his Way to he White House and we d All be awash in the pop sociology of such Fundic Phenomena As Faith he Ald hernias. Instead we have a pair of survivors who Kepi their Heads Down and outlasted nondescript Fields largely by raising huge bankrolls Early. Bom were the Banc William f. Buckley Fici Aries of weird mistakes by opponents with penchant for bizarre behaviour Hart Dole Biden Al Al the notion that inc preppy George Bush still dancing about looking for his identity and inc Dull Michael Dukakis. Who apparently has resigned himself to his Are just whal we petitioned from Santa Claus is Balderdash. They re what i misfiring political process sent us not whal we ordered. Bush and Dukakis won by default not by filling the National psyche. The system gave us a dismal Choice and we ought t o be asking Why. We had Only one candidate capable of moving minds and spirits. Jesse Jackson made history doubling his vote and tre bling his Delegate total from four years ago. He did it All on the slump starting virtually without funds or organization. He did it despite frightening Many democrats by championing positions Well to the left of George Mcgovern he did it with Charisma and Sharp campaigning despite giving away the bigot Vole by definition. Talk to voters and you will find eight of 10 not thirsting for mediocrity but despairing Over the Caliper of Choice. It s More than just the usual letdown be cause the office seems beyond human capability. It s genuine disappointment with caution and absence of vision at a moment when we sense need for inspiration brilliance and daring. Don t put the rap on a Long suffering electorate Allye seekers of cosmic Rulh. The Plain fact is that the system at least temporarily has ceased to give us our Money s Worth and we need to find out Why. Con ntw3 sir Etc Jac son s. Africa s Botha share same problem los Angeles a week after the California Pri Mary we learn interesting things Aboul the problems facing Jesse Jackson the demo Ralie convention and the United states. H has to do essentially with Devis ing a soft Landing for presidential candidate Jackson who now the headlines studiously inform us Wanis to be vice president. Only he will not be the vice president. On this proposition the leaders of the democratic party Are pretty Well United. To the extent that they say something else you can be sure thai they arc resolutely opposed to naming Jackson As vice president. There Are Here and there statements on Jackson whose motives Are not easy to track. When gov. Mario Cuomo says of course i think it would be Fine to nominate Jesse Jackson for vice president he could be thinking nominating Jackson for vice president Means the democrats would lose in november. And if they lose in november they will be looking for a new Leader in 1992, and that suits me Mario just Fine. La s another Case of Minsk Pinsk. The legendary russian Story is of two merchants who meet Al the Railroad station in Moscow. And where Are you going Boris asks his old Friend Dmitri. To Pinsk now look Here Boris puts Down his briefcase in High aggravation. When you Lell me you Are going to Pinsk. You intend for me to conclude thai you Are really going to Minsk. But since i happen to know that you really arc going to Pinsk Why do you want to lie 10 me Cuomo s motives May be mixed but overwhelmingly the democrats have Only one goal in mind and that is to gel hold of the while House so that they can Gnu yet again in Power. To nominate Jesse Jackson As vice president would shatter that Hope not because inc mass of voters arc Ami Black but because icy Are anti Jackson. Jesse is a shrewd political operator and he knows this very Well. The speculation by informed sources in los Angeles is thai in fact Jesse would be glad to take something less whatever. In could have a Flossy Lille say chairman of inc demo Ralie party or what Ever. But Jesse has a problem. The Best Way of explaining this problem is by looking around he world for a parallel. The Best is found in South Africa. It is the problem faced by . Botha in dealing with what we Call inc right Wing i.e., those who wish to make not one More Concession to the opponents of apartheid. At the last elections the right Wing parly the conservative party was greatly strengthened a direct reaction against the Concilia tons of Botha. Jackson has the same problem in the democratic parly. He has been gleefully backed by hard boiled ideologues. They care nothing Al All for the democratic party. These Are men Intyre Slid in political disruption the same kind of men who clustered around Henry Wallace in 1948, bound mostly by their infatuation with the soviet Union. And they Are insisting that Jackson ask for the vice presidency and Settle for Noth ing less. Now if Jackson were to do this he would need in order to satisfy those prodding him in the direction of intransigence to threaten the democratic party with something dire if refused the vice presidency. But if he were to do that a would be famous for a few weeks As the great disrupter of a great Opportunity the demo cratic party had now thrown away. And in would be a Long Lime before he was reincorporated into Good standing with the democratic party. Alternatively he could make the sounds he ii now making asking for the vice presidency As a matter of right because he Gol the second most Del a gals while prepared to Settle for less end to work wholeheartedly for the Victory of Michael Dukakis. But if he does this he is going to alienate his i Transi gents. What can they do to him we know what the Intran silents in South Africa can do to Botha. They can trim his parliamentary majority and conceivably take Power from him in some future election. The i Transi gents next to Jackson can t do this because there Are no elections involving Jackson in which they have demo cratic leverage. But icy can express their displeasure rather in the Way the mafia displays ils displeasure. We speak not of dropping Jesse in the East River or anything of the sort. But they can move their allegiance o someone else White or Black. Move their allegiance to someone refusing to cooperate with the democratic party a kind of Village voice candidate. They Are not predicting in los Angeles whal will come of it. But who knows perhaps when the dust settles Jesse Jackson will know More than he now does Aboul the problems thai face , Botha. The opinions expressed in the columns ind jul Conj on this Page represent those of he authors did tie in no Way to be considered u representing the flows of the slurs and stripes or the uni Ltd Stales government