European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 15, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 1.0 the stars and stripes columns George will Quay a believes he s ready to become own Man Why is this Man smiling this Man in the Indianapolis Colts a Nick sweater faded Slacks and ancient sneakers yes he has spent a pleasant sunday with his children. Rut in is dusk and another week of Bear bailing is about to begin with him cast As he Bear. So Why is Dan Quayle sipping 7-up, not something More fortifying he is a human Eye of a Hurricane pre Vernal rally tranquil. But elsewhere this has been just another manic sunday. The newspapers Are full of stories about How Quayle is Dukakis last Best Hope. Ona morning interview program he has been compared not for the first or even just the in isl time to Bob forehead an airhead congressman in a comic strip. On the same program there was comment on a vanity fair Magazine article quoting a former classmate of Quayle remembering Quayle As a by student. Quayle and he said the classmate saw Robert Bedford s movie the Candi  together. Afterwards Over a Steak dinner and for 11 hours they discussed the movie. Quayle according to the class mate said he is More handsome than red Ford and that with skilled packaging he Quayle could go far in politics. Quayle says the Story like much writ ten about him is rubbish. He did nol seethe movie until years Laler a few weeks before he won election to the Senate. Docs the constant drizzle of criticism to which i have contributed bother him sure in docs but these people do not know  but actually what bother Many like me who know Quayle and know him to be belter than he has seemed is thai a seems to have passively allowed himself to be Putty in he hands of handlers. The Quayle of the Campaign Trail and the debate with Bent sen is not the Quayle of inc armed serv ices committee on the Senate floor Dur ing the inf treaty ratification. One reason Tor his Chipper sunday de Meanor probably was that he had already decided to do what he in fact did on tuesday. That Day he issued a Declara Tion of Independence from his assigned retinue of experts who have helped make his autumn so stimulating. From now on he said i m inc  regarding direction from the lop of the ticket a running male s duty i Clear take direction. But the diminution of Dan Quayle has been accentuated by the operatives in the Bush Campaign. Politics is like a sport in that a politician like an athlete needs room for inc spontaneous insulin Clive action thai is a sign of Confidence. The Bush Campaign after being terrified in new Orleans sur rounded Quayle with hordes of hired guns like a piece of Glass packed in styrofoam peanuts. This is a Good Way to convince the candidate Ana the Public that he is fragile. A Lignelle wednesday evening. New Orleans convention. The press is baying in Pursuit of Quayle concerning the National guard. Jim Baker Bush s head handler is in abcs Anchor Booth with David Brink icy and Peter Jennings waiting to be inter viewed. Abcs cameras Are covering qua Pic s arrival at the sup Rome. Baker Olf camera tells Brinkley and Jennings that when Quayle walks past the waiting journalists he will say. And Baker recite virtually syllable for syllable what Quayle docs May moments later. The Pupil on the Short Leash gets a Gold Star. Handlers relish the role of intermediaries Between the candidates and reality meaning the Media. Candidates fade to the wallpaper As handlers and journalists feed each other s self esteem the handlers handing out bits of inside baseball inc journalists interpreting these nuances that attest to the cleverness of the handlers. Journalists have privileged insight into the working of the Little motor of history and the handlers Are portrayed As the rubber bands that make the motor Whir. If this is tuesday this must be to Ledo and if this is 1988, this must be Quayle s plane. However four years from now just As four years ago the candidates win be different they Are almost dispensable but the permanent part of the process the handlers and the Media will be Back at the same stand doing business together. Quayle anticipates a Bush Victory an Lime for rehabilitation his word. But for now the nagging question is did his Campaign have to be so diminishing could he have done worse if instead of being handed Over to rented handlers who Are not inclined to respect the people who rent them he had been sent out to be More than an Echo of Bush s dismal Campaign forthe of tick of National Sherifi Lowah Intfen poll Fri us group Jonathan Wolman . Candidates could take Cue from Gorbachev cosh it s been a Long and contentious Campaign year Here in the United Stales of America. Con Sider instead the Way soviet Leader Mikhail s. Gorba Chev runs for president quietly spending Little Money insulting none of his opponents oblivious to the polls gracious in Victory. Our political parties should pay attention to the card carrying communists Over in Moscow. Take last week for example. Thai was the time when practically out of nowhere the Central committee met to consider personnel shifts Al the top level of the communist party. The meeting was important because the party has held Power in Moscow since 1917 and so Central committee decisions lend to have wide influence Over government. Prevailing in the Central committee is like winning a democratic primary for Congress in West Virginia. And what were Michael Dukakis and George Bush up to the Democrat began his Day with a farm rally Indalou Texas in route to the famous stringfellow tonic waste site near Riverside calif., and n town meeting at Rubidoux High school. Then on to san Francisco for a dinner honouring party fund Raiser Wal Ler Shorenstein. Bush a card carrying Republican enjoyed a similarly exciting Day. The schedule called for a morning student Assembly Al Ridgefield memorial High in new Jersey then a meeting with archbishop Whealon of Hartford conn., before a rally at St. Joseph s College. Of course these presidential candidates can t be everywhere Al once so they Send their running mates out too Lloyd Belsen began his Day at the first Union Plaza in Charlotten a. Dan Quayle was Al the great american firehouse exposition and Muster in Phila Delphia. During inc Central committee meeting Andrei Gromyko gave up his party positions and sources expected that just 24 hours later at a meeting of the supreme soviet he would quit As president Loo. Gorbachev the general Secretary of the communist party was an Odds on favorite to win the Job rather like Ronald Reagan running for re election in 1984. He had three things going for him in the whirlwind Campaign for the presidency aside from the magnificent personality that leads american observers 10 spec ulate that he d be a great politician in a democracy As Well As in a police stale. He knew this snap election was imminent the ruling politburo having already decided to make some reforms and some personnel changes. So he had time to prep area platform and put together a majority coalition. Gorbachev had recently been out on the stump in Siberia. Siberian citizens freely expressed dismay Over economic hardships pleas that May have energized Gorbachev and sparked his Effort to push quickly for the next stage of Reform. His principal rival conservative Yegor i Gachev had been on vacation most of the preceding month. Any one who follows polities knows that it is stupid to go on vacation just As a Campaign is heating up. Former vice president Waller Mondale went fishing after the demo cratic National convention in 1984 and lost 49 Stales including every stale he failed logo fishing in. Gorbachev won his presidency before opponents could even schedule advertising time in the major Media  was nominated a week ago and when the presid ing officer of the supreme soviet asked and who i against nol one of the 1,500 legislators raised a hand. The Winner nodded smiling. Meanwhile Dukakis and Bush arc intensifying their struggle for american popular support. They Are Vail ing tens of Tarmac and dozens of Day care  have debated twice. They will continue to Exchange police endorsements poke Al one another vulnerabilities. Slowly grudgingly they provide a glimpse of How they want to handle such issues As deficits aids. Star wars the contras even Reb Lions with the Kremlin. In response to the popular will they May shift a position Dukakis More sympathetic to the Pentagon Bush More understanding of abortion and less tolerant of pollution or administration malfeasance. They la kiss a million babies shake a billion hands spend a zillion dollars and then after two Yean of this one of them gets to be president just like Gorbachev Migachev in his absence they put him in charge of of a Zittin to Liui ii a ame Hod rail he lint Uruu do in Wmk