European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 15, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns Jim Fain the stars and stripes columnist challenges cataclysmic conclusions political pundits have a Bent for discovering ponderous meaning in even routine events. When presidential elections come along cataclysmic conclusions Are called for. If Salesman Ronald Reagan merely parlays a smile and Shoeshine into a landslide he puts us out of business. For our purpose whatever he Doc has to revamp the architecture of politics. It George Bush wins Only because an inept opponent allows himself to be tarred As a nag desecrating took we might As Well be sports announcers Here then s few cosmic verities my Brethren have deduced from Bush s 40 stale Victory along with several rude questions ponderous utterance i with peace and Prosperity the incumbent parly automatically wins. Bush could have coasted in without Willie Morton. Dukakis was doomed even if he d stayed out of the tank Ohy a 1 Why Ihnn did Dukakis Lead Bush by 17 Points in july did peace and Prosperity suddenly break out in september which Ware and depressions tilted late deciding voters to he Duke How did Kennedy win in he s a my.  whw5 Wren with americanized homeless Livinson lets keep him that by up ii Reagan realigned the country to such conservative Bent no Liberal need apply. Of 2 of explain again that Early Dukakis Lead even in the South. How come Democrat gained in House sen ate and governorships Why do More people Call themselves democrats than republicans was it coincidence that when Dukakis finally stoned preaching old Lime democratic religion his num Bers soared. Up Iii Bush convinced people he would Institute new and continue _ old Pinch Penny policies dear to America s latter Day heart. The gun control prison furlough pledge attacks were merely incidental of 3 Why then do people Lell poll sters they want help for the homeless environmental Protection Aid to Educa Ellen Goodman lion and More programs for children Why were they so upset with Dukakis on crime up in race is the big Issue in the South. Because of it dime is now irreversibly Republican. Of 4 the South has accepted integration and other aspects of racial accommodation tar better than have Northern cities nobody s perfect but Atlanta an Charlotte Are Light years ahead of Cicero Iii., and Queens . If race was the Issue Why was Dukakis Able to woo Back Northern ethnics but not Bubba who goes to school with Blacks could it be thai Bubba simply did t want the Duke to Lake his Shotgun and is partial to solv ing the crime problem by frying Crimi nals regardless of race Creed or color up v competence in campaigning spells competence in governing. Of 5 Only if like Reagan you subs i tute for government a Public relations factory focused solely on the evening news. You can fool More people longer with to but at some Point the fantasy wears thin. Bush May not be As Lucky As the Ripper. He May actually have to commit acts. The truth is this year s election was eminently winnable by a Democrat. Dukakis blew it by hunkering Down. Bush won with i tech mudslinging that portrayed the Duke As protector of rapists and traitors while keeping the focus off the Ayatollah de Mcnese Noriega and James wan with iwo unlovable candidates Icone less muddied received a hold your nose nod. If there was a mandate in be Longs to Media adviser Roger Ailes and negative Driver upper Lee Atwater. Savor it while you can. President elect Bush it Likely to be fleeting. C Iii Newl struck today s women in need of economic Security i have a  personal history reads like the Index of a census Bureau report. She has been the child in one household the wife in another the single head of a third. The co habitant of a fourth and now again a wife. Her own Mother occupies yet another category widow. So Only half in jest this teacher tells her female students to hang on to two things for the bumpy ride ahead your own name and your own checking account. Indeed the hardest transition of remarriage she insists was nol getting through the ceremony bul completing the economic merger with her husband. To this Day years later when she is asked to fill out a form thai includes a question about income she is inclined to put Down her income not theirs. There is a sense in which she he smaller wage earner still plans As if she were or could be or had to be again the sole wage earner  my Friend May be an extreme Case. Or maybe Noli last week the census Bureau reminded us thai More and More americans follow a pathway through House holds As diverse As a studio apartment a suburban subdivision and a Florida condominium in these reports marriage is not what it used to be. We get into ii later gel out of it More often and sur Vive it. Nearly 22 million americans live alone most of them Young or elderly most of them women. The median age of marriage is 23.6 for women 25.9 Formen. About 2.6 million unmarried americans live to Gether. We move from one category to another with Little time to pack. Many women May wonder if marriage is a phase they Are going through. My Friend is not the Only wife of a deep and personal Union who retains like an old insecurity Blanket this sense of herself As a some what separate economic . You find the evidence for this deep in the polling data gathered for elections. It used to be that a Hus band and wife formed a single voting bloc. Their views on the Economy were the same. It made sense they were one household with by and Large one wage earner. They lived on the same income ate the same food drove the same car.  one of the surprises of this year is that married men and married women arc no longer As Likely to see the Economy the same Way. Of All the groups married women Are the most pessimistic about the direction of the country. And their husbands Are the most optimistic. Asked in a Survey bythe analysis croup a nether the country was on the right Irack there was a is Point Gap. Between the mar ried men and their wives. A majority of men agreed. Women disagreed the differences May come in part from the division of worry thai exists in Many families. In polls married women Are More worried than men about children about education about the environment. But the Gap is dug most deeply by economic concerns la appears that women who once Felt protected by marriage to a wage earner now feel a greater sense of what the pollsters like to Call marginally. Single women worry about maintaining their immediate Stan Dard of living. Bul now married women increasingly worry about the economic Long run. Men and women both judge the Economy by their paychecks and prospects. If women Are More pessimistic it s probably because they usually find the checks smaller the benefits smaller the ceiling lower. But it s also because women who work outside the Home an those who work inside have some similar experience or consciousness of the need to support themselves. I Don t want to exaggerate this most husbands and wives pay one mortgage out Ozone family pot with few leftovers. Even my Friend shares Bills from her separate account. Few wives Wake up each week calculating the Cost of divorce or widowhood. Bul a Gap has opened up and it is partially based on the real world of census Bureau household sin that world it seems As if a moving Van is waiting to transport american from one household to Yel an other. And wives today know that the moves for women Are not always Uptown.  Pott Wim i or twp the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors us Are in now a to be considered is representing the View of the stars and stripes or the United states government