European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 30, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes Friday september 30,1988 columns George f. Will can Bush survive 10 minutes until election Day the Winner Are you kidding do we give a trophy for being a millimetre less tiresome than the other Guy la was a National embarrassment. Michael Dukakis was marginally less embarrassing than George Bush was if Only because his canned thoughts were ladled out in understandable syntax. However the Small mindedness and tactical Over tuning were so oppressive on both sides that Bush May Benefit. Boredom and disgust May drive Down voter turnout so much Hal Bush republicans arc More re liable voters May Benefit from Hie ennui. Dukakis wanted to Jook less than he usually docs like an Alderman unveiling a bust of himself. He did Hal if just a Cly by smiling at least that probably was a smile and by a closing statement faint Praise Here that made More sense than Bush s. Bush wanted to prove that he could perform Well or at least passably when not scripted As he was in his Conven Tion acceptance speech by a gifted writer like Peggy Noo Nan. Bush s sunday evening performance raised this Houghl Why not elect Noonan and Cut out the Middle Man Bush is not famous for his concision but of my. Here he is on housing we join him in full flight and How docs Hal grab you for increasing hous ing housing is up. We Art serving a million More families now. But we re not going to do in in that old democratic Liberal Way of trying 10 build More backs and mortars sic. Go out and Lake a look at is. Louis at some of Hal Effort. It is  he was referring to a St. Louis Public housing project so bad it was dynamited. You probably under stood thai if you also understood his references to the Mckinney Bill. Bush and Dukakis witticisms Are recognizable by the Complete absence of one attribute of True wit spontaneity. Their attempts at humanizing humor were heavy enough to be weighed on truck Scales and obviously had been tamped into each candidate by handlers Why should the humor be different than the sinous stuff tracing a Bush Houghl Back from its manifestation in speech to its origin in his thinking is like seeking the source of the Blue Nile. The problem with Bush sentences thai reel drunkenly around a topic is nol just aesthetic. Neither is the problem Only Only that syntactic chaos is a sign of a chaotic mind. The Basic and alarming problem is that Bush s chaotic mind seems to be a consequence of a Lack of Public purpose. James j. Kilpatrick  sure he has a purpose he wants to be president. But he seems 10 want that Only because it is the Nam rung up and climbing the ladder of Public life is his life. This is an old axiom some people seek office to be something others seek office to do something. Bush is one of the former. In Thistle contrast with Ronald Reagan is Complete. Dukakis has Public purposes. Although Bush called Dukakis an iceman Bush was More Corr when contradicting himself saying Hal Dukakis has Pas Sions but the wrong ones indeed the most disagreeable aspect of this Cam Kain is Dukakis disingenuous ass his disguising ofis leftward inclination. Again the contrast with Rea Gan is instructive Reagan hardly hid if anything he exaggerated his rightward leaning. In politics one docs what one is and becomes what one docs. Bush Sitters like a in Terburg on the surface of things strewing fragments of thoughts mov ing fast lest he linger so Long Hal he is expected to show Masc roof or even real interest in anything. It is Well to dwell on him because he is ahead the clock is running and every indecisive Day like sunday serves him. It is said thai about one third of the supporters of both candidates Are so la Gully attached to their Candi dates that they could be detached. It is unlikely that either candidate s support was substantially solidified sunday night. So Bush left North Carolina in a position to do what the North Carolina tar heels basketball team some times does when it has a Lead. It goes into a four Corner stall to kill the clock. Dukakis by speaking about medical care and other traditional democratic Issue is going to find out if there is a democratic majority Oul there. And he also has this Hope in inc Days before inc debate inc Campaign s dynamics began to change. The change was driven in part by journalists impatience with Bush s nag factory path to the presidency. Thoughtful television journalists Are debating whether they have a duty to put on the air whatever spectacle a candidate decides to make the Centrepiece of his Campaign Day. But Back on the Trail. Bush is Back on a script. In each of the final 40 Days he needs 15 seconds of Tele Genic Houghl fullness. Thai totals 10 minutes of mind until the final Buzzer. He might just make it. Linn ton poll Anta it Ioup Dukakis was More sure but Bush was better it was a close match but in watching sunday night s bloodless affray Between George Bush and Michael Dukakis i scored in 12-8 for Bush. The vice president came across As a Man who pays a decent respect to Rule six this being the Maxim that goes As follows Don t take yourself too Damn seriously. Dukakis May have a sense of humor but in has t been visible thus far. The gentleman is very serious. He is also very composed and very articulate. He is very almost everything but he is not very appealing. Dukakis has a Way of smiling with his Mouth but nol with his eyes. Like a poorly thawed Sweet Roll he is still Frozen in the Middle. The questions put to the candidates sunday evening were familiar questions. They brought familiar an Swers. Nothing new developed but most of the viewers probably had As Little interest in great issues As they have in great books. The value in these engagements lies in the Opportunity they provide for judgments of character. Is the candidate an attractive person would you feet comfortable with him in the Oval of fice never mind his views on subsidies for wheat and com the question is do you like the Guy do you Trust him this is what matters first of All in a presidential debate. Everything else comes later my impression was Hal Bush looked sure of himself and Dukakis looked too sure of himself. Bush exhibited the mature Confidence of a Man who is not afraid to kid an institution is in time for our one liners Dukakis got off his prepared jabs with inc Case of n Johnny Carson who has memorized his Midnight monologue. Bush was better. The difference or so it seemed to me Lay in the fact that Bush has lived most of his life in the capital of the United states and Dukakis has lived most of his life in the capital of Massachusetts. My perspective May be rooted in my own experience. I spent 25 years in the capital of Virginia covering the general Assembly and the governor s office. I m now in my 23rd year of covering Congress and the White House. The two beats have some things in common bul not As Many As you might suppose. The constituencies Are different the politics Are different. The levers of Power work in different ways. Bush has been around this City Long enough to know that the Powers of a president Are As limited As they arc awesome. Dukakis has yet to master the truism that a president proposes and the Congress disposes. Thus Bush inspires a measure of Confidence at least in my eyes because he understands what Jefferson termed the splendid misery of the White House. Bush knows that in the Field of International relations a president has to make do with the world Asil is and nol with a world As he might like it to be. He cannot summarily dispatch a Noriega in Panama or an Ortega in Nicaragua. He May be president of the United Stales of America but Jamie Whitten is chairman of House appropriations. What Jamie wants Jamie gels and the voters who elect Jamie Whitten Are out of a president s reach. Listening to Dukakis who has a cocksure solution for just about everything i was reminded of the Collo Quy in Henry in Between the boastful Glendower and the Clear eyed Henry hotspur. I can Call spirits from inc vasty deep brags Glen Dower Why. So can i or so can any  says hotspur bul will they come when you do Call for them Dukakis would Call upon Mem Beni of Congress to do All kinds of things Cut Back on nuclear deter rence beef up conventional forces adopt a plan of National health insurance Institute a new scheme of student Loans adopt measures of gun control real South Africa As a terrorist nation and so on and so on. Will the members come when he docs Call for them sunday evening did nothing to dispel the in easy feeling thai Dukakis As president would be play ing out of his league. This was the problem Hal Jimmy Carter never surmounted. He could hit a curve Ball in Atlanta he could t hit it up Here. Now he s Back in the minors. This was the first debate so called Between the two candidates. There will be More but both suspense and expectations will be lower. Neither Man is a Power House neither Man is a Patsy. The neat Lime Dukakis May seem More impressive but alas for his learn fewer people will be watching. Unit Rel Piru s