European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 21, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 col units the stars and stripes George will Dukakis loss will leave demos no place to hide the Dukakis Campaign s unconquerable aversion to common sense is on display in a new television com Mercial that exacerbates the doubts it is designed to allay. It is supposed to pre sent the new redesigned cuddly warm or Al least room temperature candidate. In it the shirt sleeved Dukakis turn ing on the fountains of his vast deep says today it seems Young parents have less time and a lot More to worry about if i were a Young father today i d want to know that my government was t Blind to the changes in my life i d want my new president to be in touch with the things that Are important to my family. That s not a democratic concern it s not a Republican concern thai s a father s  thai s it. All of it. Really. It must make Many viewers want to scream Al the screen can you be More can you be at All specific what. Do. You. Mean when i saw the commercial it came hard of the heels of a Mcdonald s com Mercial that was compared to he Duka Kis commercial As informative As the encyclopaedia Britannica it told you what you would get from Mcdonald s hamburgers and happiness. Docs Dukakis assume that everyone knows because he assumes that every one thinks As he docs what he Means about the things the president should be in touch with or is he reticent because he is wary lest specifics seem Liberal perhaps the problem is a blend of both intellectual arrogance and despair about the sup posed immaturity of an electorate that could prefer conservatives to liberals. For eight years during which Reagan carried 93 states in 48 months democrats like Dukakis have been won Dering How docs he do it Why do they the voters do in surely  be that they agree with him because the truth is self evident and we self avid Cully have custody of in. Dukakis it is said is not communicating Well. Wrong. He communicates very Well but Well is not a synonym for persuasively. With what he has done and said Over a Long Public career and what he now says and will not say he communicates the transformation of liberalism from a Doc Trine of popular collective choices and common provision social Security Rural electrification Etc into something that dare not speak its name. It is the trans formation of liberalism  support Ive Friend into a nagging Nanny. At about inc time Dukakis entered Public life liberalism was changing. In stopped seeming to be a government hand for those needing help and became the rasping voice of Bossy government dictating to people who presumably could not be trusted to know right from wrong school busing racial quotas Judi Cial fits about abortion capital punish ment and yes the pledge of allegiance. Many political commentators specialize in trivializing explanations of elections Dewcy lost to Truman because he would not shave his moustache Eisenhower won because of his Grin Etc. For eight years now in has been insistently said that Reagan has won be cause he said there you go again or because of his smile or because of what has been called his a shucks i stepped on my sneakers laces Charm. Democrats will begin to do better the Day they decide that in general a partic ular candidate wins because people listen to what he says and prefer it to what the other candidate says. One healthy aspect of a Dukakis de feat might be this it might leave demo crat no place to hide no trivializing Al ibis to enable them to say that the incompetent Public let itself be Gullet yet again. If Dukakis loses no one surely Wilt suggest blaming the outcome on Bush s Charm or Charisma. Wum Ngun Pom  Donald m. Rothberg do polls really reflect True picture of Campaign , Mich. What about the 17 Points governor the bad news question dogged Michael Dukakis at a time his presidential Campaign needed a lift. The 17 Points was the Lead Republican George Bush had Over Dukakis in an Nec news Wall Street journal National poll released with barely three weeks left u Nti i election Day. Whether thai Lead was real or a statistical Aberra Tion its potential Impact was critical. If Bush was really that far ahead the race was Over. The vice president could Start sending out the invitations to his inaugural Ball and Dukakis could Start wondering if wanted to run for another term As governor of Massachusetts. Dukakis thinks it s More like seven Points a Lead tha he has a much More realistic Chance to Over come. This business of polls is really having a terrible effect said Dukakis. He said polling really drives inc  in this Campaign that certainty has been True. Ironically it was inc same Abc poll that last july said Dukakis was 17 Points ahead of Bush the larg est margin Ever enjoyed by the Democrat in the Bat the of poll numbers. In the Early stages it was All going Dukakis Way. Every week through the Spring and Early sum Mer a new Survey came out saying the Democrat was eight or nine or id or 15 or 17 Points ahead of Bush. The surveys said up to half the Likely voters questioned had a negative opinion of the vice president bad news for Bush. He was dead. Candidates with negatives in the 40 to so percent Range Don t win elections. Print up the tickets to the Dukakis inaugural Ball. If that news weren t bad enough what about the gender Gap there was something about George Bush that women did t like. Foils said the vice president was doing Well among White males but trailing far behind Dukakis among women. Those were the Early polls. Now it s less than three weeks until the election and the picture is far different gone Are the Bush negatives. The gender Gap still exists but Only in the respect that Bush does belter among White males than among women. In the Abc poll. Bush led 64 percent to 30 percent among while males. Among women he led 4s-44 per cent a Gap that was within the margin of error. That still would qualify As a gender Gap but would hardly offer much Consolation to Dukakis. At least Dukakis could claim he was consistent in his feelings about polls. He brushed them off As meaningless when they showed him Way ahead and did the same when they said he was trailing. The Abc poll came out Lale in the Day on monday and was the Laist in a series of blows to the Dukakis Campaign Effort to regain momentum. A recent Abc state by state Survey said Bush was leading in enough states in suggest he could beheaded for an electoral landslide. Then last weekend. The Washington Posl published a Story saying Dukakis aides had formulated a closing strategy leaning heavily on is Stales with272 electoral Voles Only two More than needed to win. Campaign aides rushed to deny they were adopt ing such a narrow plan that would leave no margin for a loss in any target state. In the Wake of those two polls and the Posl Story Dukakis headed into the Industrial Midwest. The crowds were Good and enthusiastic and the candidate s rhetoric was sharper than in had been. Out on the stump it was easy to set aside bad new. If you tried to Lell these people you can t win Michigan or Ohio they d Lell you you had rocks i your head said Charles Baker inc Campaign Field director. Maybe it was All a Mirage and a Massachusetts Miracle was going to occur on nov. 8. And like Dukakis was telling crowds. We re going to be the ones celebrating on election night. De dub note Oor Ujj m. Flot Tilg h a thl Pou Ucol Rrt Tif Al a aug Cut Prui