European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 28, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes columns Jeff Greenfield Billy Martin would be a perfect up candidate while the political universe swoons with anticipation Over the identity of Michael Dukakis running male the Specula icon ranges Over a ludicrously narrow i eld. There is Jesse Jack son of course but he is More properly thought of Ashe candidate of climatological extreme he will be chosen when hell freezes Over. The others arc the usual collection of senators governors congressmen and mayors All placed on the list 1oprove that pols and pundits alike arc conversant with the arithmetic of the electoral College. Now however comes a candidate so geographically occupation ally and temperamentally perfect thai even the predictable world of politics has Tosei a upon the idea with glee. Michael Dukakis should choose As his running mate Billy Martin the exec exec sex manager of the new York Yankees. Look at the and Van Ages beginning with geography. Martin is a native 01 the Bay area of Northern California and managed the Oakland a s to a divisional title in the Early 1980s. He is also Well known to citizens of Minne Sota Michigan and Texas having managed in those states. And his roots in new York As player and manager go Back to lift Early 1950s. Those Stales alone have roughly Hal the Elc cloral votes needed for Victory. Not even George Bush can match Bill Martin for most plausible Home states what Aboul experience the presi Dency is uniquely about  to managing a major league baseball club the vice presidency is amere trifle and governor of Massachusetts a Middle management Job. What Post puts an individual under More pressure picking out a suit forthe funeral of a foreign Leader vetoing a sewer project or sending up a Pinch Hitler Tor your starting Pitcher in a one run game in the world series i front of 60,000 fans and a to audience of to million it is no contest. As far As foreign policy gees. Martin s trips abroad during the off season probably amount to More inter National experience than Dukakis has accumulated in his 10 years As Gover Ellen Goodman Dukakis someone who  a Ftp a we on now what Aboul temperament some would say thai the history of Billy Martin s pugilistic Endeavor proves him unfit for the vice presidency. I think the exact reverse is True. What is the dominant reason for the decline of the democratic party in re cent presidential elections it has Bee the tight of while males especially in the South and the flight of Urban Blue Collar ethnics who have found the democratic party to be insufficiently muscular on matters of National de sense and patriotism and insufficiently attentive to their values and needs. As it happens that sense of doubt is also the single biggest obstacle stand ing Between Michael Dukakis and the White House. The vague notion that Dukakis is soft on crime soft on patriotism too much a product of Harvard Type effete thinking is what the re publicans will hit again and again. Now look at Billy Martin. He is thievery embodiment of ethnic Blue Collar sensibility. Half hispanic by birth heis exactly what a working class hero should be. He made a career out of baseball by extracting the last ounce of Effort from his Model natural abilities. Lit will not tolerate Over sight by a Rich fat Cigar smoking Boss who thinks he knows it All because his daddy left him a lot of Money. He eases the burdens of work by re tiring to a Friendly ale House every now and then All right every now an now. He lakes pleasure in the company of attractive women who perform wit their shirts off. He answers fighting words with a fist to the  ticket of Billy and the Duke guarantees a wholesale return of those Nixon Reagan democrats who have left the party without a base for the better part of 20 years. And what to do with Martin after the election just give him the vice president s constitutional Job As pre siding officer of the Senate and watch the democrats legislative program pass into Law within 72 hours while several recalcitrant legislators retire to their private Chambers to spit out their Teeth. Unit Rel or i Elf Kwh Mike and Kitty present contrast in personalities things Are still relatively Normal on Perry Street in Brookline mass. The fledgling Tomato plants arc growing in front of the Brick House in this Middle class neighbourhood. Kilty Dukakis comes to the door dressed in a to shirt and Blue jeans. The Dukas uses Are undoubtedly More diverse than he entrees on their separate Bank accounts. He s Calm and Cool and cerebral and i m intense and much More emotional Kitty Dukakis says. He is serenely confident to a flaw and she is still working on  when they go to a Campaign event together he Wilt remember what was said she will remember As Well what was unsaid. Ai for their marriage there is no adoring stare in Kitty Dukakis marital repertoire. Nor docs she consider herself a political partner. She is Strong minded with serious interests of her own especially in cambodian and other refugees and in the Protection of open space. Bui in this Era when male female relationships have become a Subtle piece of the political landscape their Strong marriage mod Ern style is Likely to be an Assel. The parts of Mike Dukakis life that caused some snickering among the old boys on Beacon Hill 10 years ago his insistence on being Home for Din Ner his familiarity with a vacuum cleaner and Anta meeting May show others especially women that he understands their lives. When we started off there was one working Mother on this Street remembers Kitty Dukakis lifetime resident of Brook inc. There is nobody who in t working now. And our Street is a kind of microcosm of where this country is going. We be go Blue color workers and professors a real  about her husband s High standing with women in the gender Gap polls she insists you can l fake a real commitment to women. A lot of women will come up to me and say the Way your husband treats you Personalty is something 1 re Spond to. 1 think it s All a pan of a  but is this would be first lady prepared for what comes next is this worrier ready for the spotlight on everything from their Garden to their three grown children As governor s wife Kitty Dukakis has had her share of criticism. I think in the Pasti be been More volatile than is acceptable she says carefully. Imperious Pushy the dragon lady of Brookline charged one relentless press critic. Admittedly traumatized by these attacks she now says they toughened her. Bui not very much. For now though Kilty Dukakis is recuperating in the relative quiet of her Home dipping into a Book about the first ladies marvelling at Eleanor Roosevelt thinking Aboul our National ambivalence to the women in the while House. And also thinking about normalcy. When i came Home from the Hospital Michael brought my suitcase in she recounts. There was my husband who was the nominee for president nol Only unpacking my stuff but folding it and putting it away. I was laughing and Mike said what s so funny 1 said How Many other candidates for president would do thai it was so  on Perry Street normalcy is about to become a rare and prize commodity. O Pom Wynn coup the opinions expressed to the columns and cartoon on this Page represent those of the authors and we in no Vily to be considered � representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United suits government