European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 29, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday february 29, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 13 William Safire weakling Bush commentary still has plenty of strength to the question on the cover of . News a How weak is Bush a a gop voters of South Dakota replied weaker than any sitting Republican president since Hoover. With nobody else on the ballot Bush was actively disdained by one third of his own party a voters. That a not weakness that a decrepitude. Here a the comeback scenario 1. The unilateral tax Cut. Bush proposed cutting the capital gains tax by half. Democrats have called this helping the Rich at the expense of the poor. They see class War when what is really being waged is generational War cutting taxes on property profits helps older people who have More unrealized profits is. Younger people who earn More but vote less. When the democrats pass a tax Bill that reduces Middle class taxes a pittance and soaks the Rich Bush will veto it and Campaign against raising anybody a taxes. Then on March 20, the a a deadline he gave Congress for a Bill he will zing in a smart bomb. He will reduce capital gains taxes the presidential Way a by unilaterally adjusting the Cost basis of computing profits. The president has the Power by pen stroke to adjust for inflation the Cost of a taxpayers property. Done prospectively it would be a Nice incentive to invest in companies or buy property. Done retroactively indexation would slash taxes of longtime homeowners beyond the present $125,000 exemption and would induce holders of Stock to sell re invest and pay the reduced tax. As democrats confuse voters with tax Jig Gering that goes nowhere Bush would say a no new taxes and take credit for having Cut capital gains taxes by himself. While democrats prattle about the Middle class republicans deliver results to the Middle aged. As a result no election year tax Bill will be enacted which is Fine the recession will be ended by Low interest rates and the huge deficit stimulus now in place. Thus will sheer demagoguery be the Handmaiden of sound policy. 2. Bracketing the democratic convention. A president has this political weapon the ability to use his schedule to dominate the news. In Early july he will focus our attention on his use of foreign clout to create Domestic jobs. Japan a Erime minister will pay a state visit concessions in and. Then they go off together to the economic Summit in Munich where our major trading partners will want to help their Friend George get re elected. Then comes the democratic convention in new York with highlights Only coverage by the broadcast networks bracketed the following week by an All stops out state visit by Boris Yeltsin to sign the historic ski cooperation agreement. Democratic convention what convention 3. The springtime Surprise. Iraqis Saddam Hussein is the Bone in Bush a Throat gaining strength for a bloody comeback As a Gulf Power. Libyans Moa mar Qadhafi is building mass destruction facilities As he harbours his killer terrorists. And the North korean dictator Kim ii Sung we Are warned by our director of Central intelligence who does not want to repeat the Agency a mistake in iraqis Only a few months away from producing a nuclear bomb. We cannot expose our 39,500 troops in South Korea to a nuclear strike. If plutonium production at Yong Byon is not stopped either we take our troops out or take out the new threat they face. Docs it Strain credulity to suggest that at least one of these three dictators is going to get zapped i think not. Certainly the ground is being prepared by the White House for decisive action to end threats of mass destruction. That non political purpose is serious but the political fallout cannot be overlooked. How weak is Bush if he feels he must raise some taxes to mollify Congress if he fritters away his Power to control the summer Calendar and if his Stern warnings to three dictators about threatening the peace turn out to be empty posturing a then and Only then would Bush reveal himself too weak to deserve re election. C Tho now York Olmos Andrew j. Glas Buchanan does what he thinks is necessary Hollywood pianist Oscar Levant used to joke that he had known Doris Day the actress before she was a Virgin. In the same sense i knew Patrick Buchanan the presidential candidate before he was an outsider. Under our towns fluid caste system Pat and Shelley Buchanan have been prime members of the chattering class. As such they be dined in Fine Homes where waiters serve Lemon sorbet Between the fish and the meat courses. Often As not the company at these Din Ner parties included a few bless my soul Liberal democrats. At such a cozy affair a guest might turn to Pat to question his jabs at say jews or zulus. Such an inquiry was Apt to be met by a soft answer a As if to suggest that commentators who work the right Side of the Street must earn a living too. Pat Buchanan came of age As a White House speech writer for Richard Nixon. He shared those duties with Raymond Price once the chief editorial writer for the old new York Herald Tribune and William Safire now a pulitzer winning columnist for the new York times. Safire recalls that Nixon chose his speech writers As a surgeon might choose a Scalpel. Thus Price would get the nod for a moderate or Liberal audience while Buchanan a role was to energize True believers. Modestly Safire saw his role As rallying a the  that experience left Buchanan with a Subtle feeling for the special Power of words when uttered by a or hurled against a a president. Its no Accident As the former soviets used to say that a a or. Outside Calls the incumbent Quot or.  Quot or. Inside lacks a keen ear for English and is bereft of aides Able to Coin a neat phrase. He allowed As How he let himself a get hammered in the new Hampshire primary by these democrats and to some extent by the us by pause  after beating the great expectations game Buchanan swiped at his rival As a King  it was a subliminal signal worthy of a us a marxist. So Here we go again Fine wines is. Lite Beer Golf is. The Bowling Alley a night at the opera is. The evening sitcoms and for political history buffs Nelson Rockefeller is. Barry Goldwater. Buchanan a Barb was pure class warfare Republican style a Heady brew cer Tain to stir some hearts and win some votes a in 1992 and in 1996. Truth be told neither Buchanan nor Bush has much of value to say about the nations real woes. But at least Buchanan has mastered the Art of speaking or writing in his own voice. If it were Only that simple. Another columnist the late Walter Lippmann once said that a no one can write an authentic speech for another Man. It is As impossible As writing his love letters for him or saying his prayers for him. When he Speaks to the people he and not someone else must speak. For it is much More important that he is genuine than that he be Bright Clever ingenious entertaining eloquent or even  another speechwriter Peggy Noonan who worked under Buchanan in Ronald Reagan a White House has written that she had never seen such a Gap Between Public Persona and private  he found her Boss to be a neither bombastic nor especially combative a but rather a Laid Back soft spoken Type. In secret Lippmann wrote speeches for democratic presidents. Whether As White House contenders or As Washington columnists we do what we think we have to do. C co nows service