European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 24, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns the stars and stripes Russell Baker 15,000 journalists stuck with nothing to say in Atlanta 15,000 journalists assembled. Jess Jackson was there. Everyone called him  Michael Dukakis was there too but there was disagreement on what to Call him. Some called him Mike and some called him  there was even disagreement among those who called him  no wonder 15,000 journalists were necessary. Some who called him Dukakis pronounced itto rhyme with do clock us but others who called him Dukakis pronounced it to sound like Dew  those who favored Dew caucus seemed to Beall Antans but it was hard to know for sure because the 15,000 journalists were so overworked covering the perceived snub they had no time to investigate the regional origins of the Dew caucus peo ple. Yes Only 15,000 journalists that s All there  could t spare any to investigate what kind of people were saying Dew  by actual Well almost count from Friday suppertime to monday lunch 13,273 journalists had written 37,903 stories and spoken 82,581 television pieces about the perceived snub Jesse had received. Imagine that and Only 15,000 journalists Todo the Job. Never in the annals of journalism had so Many reported so much about so Little. Lloyd Bentsen was there. He was vice presiden tial Timber. Everybody competed to compose mildly insulting descriptions of Bentsen based on his poli tics texan wealth much tailoring super band rabble rousing Talent euphemistically called Charisma by 14,999 of every 15,000 journalists. Fifteen thousand is How Many there were though by monday Rumor spread that the number had swelled to 16,000. Thousands of Miles from the scene mystified Salt of the Earth outside the Belt Way americans heard the rumours and  the 1,000 reinforcements be hurled into service to find out who the Dew caucus pro bouncers were was another snub soon to be perceived yes Bentsen was there. Nobody called him any thing but Bentsen though everybody called Jack son Jesse and there was the aforementioned Dis agreement about what to Call Dukakis. Every one of the 15,000 knew Bentsen was there and knew the perceived snub to Jesse created a crisis a crisis not so newsworthy perhaps As Theo Dore Roosevelt s decision to run with the Bull Martin Gottlieb our n6wan6sth6tic Cam pot5l66p without using harmful Gas or pru6s, Lukakis amp Moose but the Only crisis the 15,000 had. Such a crisis. It was a crisis reminiscent of sat urday afternoons at the movies Long Long ago. The elders among the 15,000 remembered those movies foreign legion desert Sand dying legionnaires dropping like flies Oasis on horizon desperate me dashing toward Date Palms flinging themselves onto the Spring. Not much of a Spring just a trickle but enough for the remnants of the parched Pla Toon. The perceived snub crisis was like that Spring but the 15,000 were no Mere platoon. They were a whole division and the cry they uttered was not water Clear Cool water but Jesse use your snub perceived questions. Yes there were questions out in the far Corners of the Earth. Questions about the calling of Michael Dukakis. Why for instance did no Oneall him  five or 6,000 journalists turned Loose on that Story could have provide them sustenance once the perceived snub Story dried up. Adlai Stevenson two times a presidential Candi Date was always called  Nelson Rocke Feller running for president was called  who Are or have been governors were always called governor when running for president. Was Dukakis really a governor if so Why was t he called governor governor would have ended the danger of bit Ter rivalries springing up Between people who pronounced Dukakis to rhyme with do clock us and the faction that called him Dew  the number of journalists present was 15,000.that was not enough alas to ferret out the answer to the question being asked in backwaters so sleepy and Dull that the locals were reduced to thinking about the convention. That question was who first perceived that there might be a perceived snub aimed at Jesse did Jesse in fact perceive a snub and Over looking the possibility that it May have been merely perceived receive it As such if so was Jesse deceived in his perceiving fifteen thousand journalists were  arabic numerals that was 15,000. That s How Many were there. 15,000. And Bentsen too. C new York times it s just another year of politics with democrats All agree that conventions Are mainly television shows. So it i ironic that probably 10 times As Many print journalists go to the convention Sas went in the Days before television that is before people could see the conventions for themselves. The fact that conventions Are on television has made them a bigger print Story. If the coverage is to be exhaustive and if television is what matters then television is what ought to be covered and in this space commented on. So a comment about the television cover age much of the to press seems to be highly susceptible to whatever is going around. Going around in Atlanta waste notion that Michael Dukakis s Over arching strategy is to run As moderate rather than a Liberal because the democrats make a habit of run Ning As liberals for the presidency and of losing and because the nation Ismore conservative than it used to be. This conventional Wisdom is seriously flawed for reasons National journalists should understand. There is nothing new about the democrats taming their Liberal  at least three of the five elections preceding 1988, the democrats rejected their Liberal Wing in favor of a rela Tive moderate 1968, Hubert Humphrey Over Eugene Mccarthy 1976, Jimmy Carter Over the likes of Youdall 1980, Carter Over Ted Kennedy. History notwithstanding the conventional Wisdom going into 1988 was that the democrats had to move to the right to win. So when polls started showing Dukakis leading George Bush the purveyors of the conventional wis Dom started calling Dukakis a Moder ate How else to explain his Lead before that nobody had eve questioned Dukakis s liberalism. He s against Aid to the contras hostile costar wars an avowed card carrying member of the american civil Liber ties Union against capital punishment a Liberal. When he again Falls behind in the polls Dukakis will again be called a Liberal. For now he s a moderate. Abc s Tom Brokaw asked a Duka Kis aide if it was t True that Dukakis having Learned from the mistakes of his predecessors won t Call himself Liberal. But the last Democrat to Call himself a Liberal was probably William Jennings Bryan. Certainly Walter Mondale did  Carter did t. Even George Mcgovern did t. Democrats Don t Call themselves liberals because they think the word has a bad press and because polls show thata fairly Small portion of americans use the word about themselves. Do such polls mean anything on published in Public opinion Magazine a few years ago found that most people who Call themselves conservative be Lieve the government should provide Ajob to everyone who wants one a Posi Tion Way to the left of anything Michael Dukakis would dream of Sug Gesting. So what do the poll respondent mean when they Check off conserva Tive probably that they believe i marriage and work Don t smoke dope Don t swear around the opposite sex Are against criminals and communists Don t Swap spouses and do dress appropriately for the occasion. Dukakis does t Call himself a Liber Al moderate pragmatist centrist or anything else but simply questions the value of labels. Nevertheless in saying that he wants to be seen As moderate the networks Are obviously Correct. There is no political Downside to the word. But to portray 1988 As a bad year Tobe on the political left is to get things upside Down. These Days it seems that every time a really hot Liberal conservative Issue arises Robert Bork Nicaragua Plant closing the Public sides with the liberals. On defense Trade the environment civil rights the liberals Are in Good shape with the Public. What the democrats want isto be on the popular Side of the issues and to be labelled moderate. This is noisome Peculiar 1988 phenomenon. It s politics As usual. C Cox news service Martin Gottlieb writes for the Dayton daily news the opinions expressed in the column Sand cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to reconsidered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the unite states government