European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 20, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns the stars and stripes Anthony Lewis better soviet ties should be every president s goal in the convention season of Ameri can politics we Are preoccupied with tac tics. Elections have to be won. But something deeper touches our consciousness this summer. We Are be ginning to understand that new realities in the world Challenge some of our most familiar ways of thinking our  time of fundamental change will con front the next president whoever that is. One example is in world politics. Forthe last 40 years the Basic fact of International life has been the conflict betwee the United states and the soviet Union. Tension has waxed and waned but the struggle for advantage in military Power and political influence has never stopped. Now the soviet Union is in an uproar of change. No one thinks that Mikhail Gorbachev is about to transform his country into a Western democracy but even the most sceptical of  agree that something real is happening. For the first time in 60years differing voices Are being heard in the . The relationship Between the two superpowers has already been affected. Walter Mears who would have believed a few year Sago that the soviet chief of staff would spend a week in the United states con sult at the Pentagon and be welcomed at the White House by Ronald Reagan marshal Sergei Fakhr Omeyer has jus made that visit. It ended with an agreement to form a joint military work ing group that will seek ways of prevent ing dangerous incidents. The chairman of the . Joint chiefs adm. William Crowe is to return the visit next year and . And soviet military command ers in Europe will meet. Such occasions do not signify affection. They do signify a new perception of common interests in reducing the Mutual fears and distortions that endanger both countries and that feed their arms race. The idea of common interests i growing in the broader diplomatic Field too. If there is a Chance now to end the terrible War in Angola and bring Nami Bia to Independence and there seems to be it is because the . And the . Are both pushing for a settlement. We think about the possibility of such collaboration in addressing the israeli palestinian conflict. Even the beginnings of change in the superpower relationship pose great questions for american policy. How do we seize the Chance to reduce our armoires and the Burden of military costs while maintaining our Security and our allies Confidence How can we most effectively encourage the political process begun in the soviet Union by Gorbachev there May be Large Domestic consequences too. The Massachusetts eco nomic Miracle in which gov. Dukakis rightly takes such Pride was based in part on High technology defense work. If that declines How can we encourage innovative civilian production America s eco nomic future May depend on the answer. A second example of new realities even More profound is the stress in the world s environment or More exactly our awareness of that stress. Day after Day this summer we have had warnings of danger to the natural order that supports life. Miles of beaches near new York have been closed because of Waves of sewage and Hospital debris inthe water. Forests in new England and Canada have shown appalling signs of damage by acid rain. The environment is trying to say something a scientist remarked after a massive fish kill in the Ocean off new Jersey. Each incident tells us that nature can no longer handle the consequences of unthinking human behaviour. Beyond the individual instances of pollution there is the Broad scientific agreement in recent months that the burning of Fossil fuels is creating a greenhouse effect on Earth. Tempera Tures Are going to climb to the Point where there will be devastating damage unless we switch to other sources of Energy. The Challenge in All this is to collective action. Individually we Are selfish. The Edison electric Institute a Trade organization says with ineffable blindness current scientific evidence shows there is no acid rain  in other words it is a Politica Challenge. Over these last years we have Luxuriate in the belief that private action can solve All problems if Only government gets out of the Way. But it will require government of the highest order to Deal with realities of these dimensions. New York times Bentsen tempers ticket but Dukakis Calls shots Michael Dukakis is no More and no less Liberal today than he was before he recruited Lloyd Bentsen for his democratic ticket. He is not the Man who will be changing or temper ing his views. He s the Boss. Bentsen s arrival offers a gesture to the conservative democratic establishment to the ways of Washington and Congress perhaps to the world of finance an business. It should help new englander Dukakis in the South especially in Texas where the Democrat should have a Good shot at its 23 electoral votes even though Texas is one of George Bush s adopted Home states. But the Bentsen selection does not affect Dukakis Orthe policies he has been describing during the Long Campaign that will reach one Climax with his presiden tial nomination next wednesday. That s not the Way ticket making works. It won this time either notwithstanding Dukakis statement 1hat he wanted Bentsen because he wants a vice presi Dent who will Challenge  the Challenge presumably would be intellectual not political and certainly not Public. Dukakis May indeed Amend some of his positions inthe Campaign months ahead and in office if he gets there. Responsibility tends to temper rhetoric Al though that is Likely to be less a Factor for Dukakis than for politicians past. The Massachusetts governor has been proceeding with caution All along. That is his style and it is reflected in the condensed and generalized Campaign platform the democratic convention will adopt next week. Any visible changes in position will be made by the democratic senator from Texas. At a minimum where his Public record is at Odds with Dukakis the Rule for vice presidential nominees is silence. He won t have to Swallow nearly the Mouthful ice president George Bush did after campaigning against Ronald Reagan s tax Cut proposal As Voo Doo  Bush who will face Dukakis for the presidency on nov. 8, went from that line to unflinching loyalty As Reagan s running mate and then vice president. He once joked that it was his most memorable political utterance and he regretted saying it. There s nothing nearly As Clear or dramatic Standin Between Dukakis and Bentsen. Dukakis said he expects Bentsen to continue doing his duty and setting his own course As senator from Texas. He did t add the corollary nor was it necessary. Nominees for vice president Are not Independent operators. They Are Junior partners even when they microchips not  Boston my Sknoff upper class nor combat 0ooisi do Amcis cam0m6n gets is a cd ionized. Are senior. The presidential nominee runs the show. That would t have worked with Jesse Jackson who had advertised his willingness to accept the nomination with Dukakis. He is not a supporting player. By Jackson s account he should have been offered the nomination because he was the major alternative to Dukakis throughout the primary season. Dukakis needs the Black candidate now and the democrats need the Black votes he can rally. But no. 2 on the ticket does t necessarily go to no. 2 in the Campaign even though some vice presidential choices have been made As gestures to losers and their constituencies. In contests for presidential Nomi nations it is Winner take All. And it is up to the Winner to decide How and where to Compromise to temper positions to make the gestures that can bind Campaign wounds. Originally the vice president was chosen for being second. Each member of the electoral Coll Gegot to cast two votes. Whoever got the most was president whoever ran second became vice presi Dent. But that Only lasted until 1804, when the Constitution was amended to provide separate votes on the two offices. An Early member of Congress Roger Griswold of Connecticut saw a risk in that change. The office will generally be carried into the Market to be Exchange for the votes of some Large state for president he warned. The greatest danger is that the Man just nominated for president will try desperately to heal the wounds and placate the dissidents in his party said Henry a. Wallace a one term vice president a decade after he was dumped from the democratic ticket in1944. My Battle cry would be no More deals and no More balancing of the  that sounds Good. It won t happen. Mears is an executive editor with the associated press