European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 11, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 columns the stars and stripes Tom Wicker blame Media for degeneration of . Politics what is it about political campaigning in America that causes it to de generate so swiftly these Days into talk of eating pork rinds fake accusations of mental instability denials of wimp charges boasts about ancient Snow blow ers and unprovable personal denunciations of an opponent the answer appears to be television not television news but the medium it self. On the one hand television lends itself eagerly to Crafty image making simplistic sound bites staged melodrama and the political equivalent of kiss kiss bang bang on the other hand it carries these messages farther and to More recipients than Ever before. Not that american politics has t Al ways depended heavily on funny hats Flag waving baby kissing fire breathing and other forms of hokum while skimp ing or hyping the there May even be those who think things Are no worse today than in the past or who Wel come what they consider higher entertainment values in politics. But the new availability not Only of television but of so Many scientific tools polls Cable Quick response video focus groups spin control psychological profiles to name a few inthe hands of so Many of the political consultants spawned by All these developments seems to me to make campaigning today More than Ever a game that s not so much con As in Confidence game rather it s con As in convince the voters of something the political consultants think they want to believe anyway say that Michael Dukakis is your typical suburban Lawn Mower or that George Bush eats pork skins not quiche. Last week Bush declared that Dukakis if elected president would make the world not a safer place but More that May have made a great sound bite on the evening news but it s an unprovable and unwarranted charge nonetheless. It was fairer to say that Dukakis has no experience in foreign policy As the vice president later charged but Nei ther did most presidents including Ron Ald Reagan and Franklin Roosevelt. Infant it won t be known whether either Bush or Dukakis can manage foreign of Linda Chavez imagine a wern0r t Ealin 5 forei6n affairs fairs from the White House until one of them gets the Chance to try. Dukakis following the political Consul Tants Shibboleth that a charge no matter How absurd must be answered with another fired right Back. He said Bush does thave what it takes to Lead this country when it comes to foreign How does Dukakis know he cited arms to the Ayatollah dealings with Gen eral Noriega and Bush s favourable com ments some years ago about Ferdinand Marcos. All that like Dukakis Lack of experience outside the Massachusetts state House is fair game for criticism. None of it proves either Man s incompetence to handle foreign affairs. What is happening is that even before George Bush actually is nominated the Campaign is backsliding into image Mak ing. It was never Likely of course that in1988 or any other election year a presidential Campaign would turn into an educational debate on the issues whatever they Are. But this one More than most seems already to be focused on the basically similar video identities being drummed up for the two candidates. Both if taken at the word of their spin doctors Are Good old boys Good neigh Bors who d be glad to come Over and fix your Leaky toilet or your backyard Oil Rig if called upon. At the same time both Are smart experienced Peerless leaders who can balance a budget outwit Congress figure out what s wrong with the country and confound Gorbachev. Never mind that the Good old boy who s really your neighbor could t do any of that and probably is too smart to try. What s More both Bush and Duka Kis Are really Tough Guys supermen who not Only know All about nukes by bombers and cruise missiles but who also will snuff out the drug Trade crack Down on crime and prevent so much As a whiff of corruption in their administrations. If you Don t believe it you must have been listening to the other Guy. He d have you believe Dukakis is a Liberal just like George Mcgovern or Jimmy Carter or both. Or he says George Bush is a Prepp elitist who was t there when Ronald Rea Gan did the bad things Dukakis blames on Bush. Will the real candidates please stand up we can t see you for your image. New York times news service Dukakis should support latinos learning English Michael Dukakis has discovered the latino vote and is pursuing it with a vengeance. No make up a Large percentage of the population in some key electoral states 21 percent in Texas 19 percent in California 9 percent in Florida. Presumably Dukakis was aiming at those voters when he broke into Spanish in the Middle of his acceptance speech at the democratic National convention. Politicians routinely Bow to the culture and heritage of specific ethnic groups during election Lime. But Dukakis appears to be going further. He s using Spanish so extensively on the Campaign Trail that one television producer quipped we re going to have to hire a translator. This is like covering Al the democratic governor of Kentucky Wallace Wilkinson thinks that Dukakis frequent use of Span ish is a mistake. You know Wilkinson said Back Home Bubba still thinks we ought to just speak English in this whether he meant to or not Dukakis has put him self in the Middle of a fierce debate about whether latinos should follow in the footsteps of previous groups of immigrants and adapt to English. On one Side of the debate Are some latino politicians like former Miami mayor Maurice Ferre who told the Tampa Tribune in 1982 that within 10 year there will not be a word of English spoken English is not Miami s official language. One Day residents will learn Spanish or on the other Side Are millions of americans including a lot of latinos who believe that there is value i maintaining a common language even in this racially and ethnically diverse nation of ours. California voters had the Opportunity to voice their opinion on the Issue in 1986 when an initiative appeared on the ballot to make English the official Lan Guage of the state. The measure passed overwhelmingly totalling 73 percent of the vote. This year similar measures face the voters in Arizona Colorado and Florida. Polls in those states indicate that the Initia Tives will pass easily by 61 percent in Arizona 64 percent in Colorado 86 percent in Florida. The vast majority of latinos Are caught in the mid dle of this debate. Native born mexican americans Brand Large know English 95 percent of them Accord ing to a recent Rand corp. Study. A majority of Sec Ond generation mexican americans speak Only one language English. So the debate about whether latinos should speak English is already settled for them. Ironi Cally these English speaking latinos the ones to whom Michael Dukakis is speaking Spanish Are the ones most Likely to vote. Recent latino immigrants on the other hand Don t yet know English. Barely More than one Quarter of mexican immigrants who had been in the United states for three years were Able to speak English adequately according to one academic study. This is the group most Likely to be affected by the outcome of the debate Over language policy. Thousands of those Immi Grants Are now waiting to get into English classes in los Angeles and elsewhere. They want to learn English because they know they can t achieve economic Opportunity without it. They need to be encouraged for their efforts and provided help in achieving their goal. Latinos Are the fastest growing ethnic group in the country. Some demographers estimate that if current trends continue one out of every three americans willbe of latin descent by the Middle of the next Century. That would make latinos about the same proportion of the . Population As French speaking canadians Are of Canada s. If latinos abandon their commitment to Lear English the United states could be faced in the 21st Century with the same kind of language divisions that plague our Northern neighbor today. Dukakis would do Well to keep that in mind on the Campaign Trail. Linda Chavez recently appointed chairman of the National commission on migrant education is also president of .English, which supported the 1986 California initiative declaring English the state s offi Cial language special to the los Angeles times
