European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 5, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday March 5, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 13 commentary . Apple  separating the men from the boys it was a Day when the big boys in both parties got something but some of the Little Guys among the democrats got hustled closer to the exit. The Best news was delivered to Bill Clinton who found that he could win big inside his Home Region and compete effectively elsewhere despite weeks of battering in the press and Paul e. Tsongas who found that he could succeed outside his Home Region. President Bush managed to fight off a threat by a Tyro who has never held elective office but Learned that he faces a Long hard slog. Two constituencies emerged among the democrats. Tsongas appealed principally to highly paid Well educated Urban and suburban voters and Clinton More to those further Down the economic and educational scale. That division mirrored the differences in the candidates messages. Both men in what is now essentially a two Man race Are Liberal on questions of race and most other social issues. But Tsongas is much More conservative on tax and fiscal policy than Clinton and the space that divides them is Likely to be the main Battleground in the weeks ahead with the Arkansas governor strafing his rival As an advocate of trickle Down policies that failed in the 1980s under two Republican administrations. Among the republicans Patrick j. Buchanan demonstrated once More the weight of the protest vote and its wide geographical distribution. In the South As in new England and the upper Midwest Between 3 and 4 voters out of 10 seem unwilling to support the president in Republican primaries even when be campaigns hard As he did in Georgia. A we can win this nomination a Buchanan said promising to Campaign constantly in the North and the South in the next week. But the challenger still has not won a primary and if he could not win in new Hampshire or Georgia with weeks to build up a head of steam it is hard to see him doing it in the Days ahead when the schedule gets much More crowded. The president expects to do considerably better this weekend in South Carolina where gov. Carroll a. Campbelljr. Is striving to repeat the Success of 1988, when his management gave Bush a candidacy a strategically timed lift. Bush scamp was encouraged by a Rise of 0.9 percent in the Index of leading economic indicators which offered Hope the recession might be waning by november. What Buchanan has done so far in a Campaign laced with racist appeals and unsparing unrelenting attacks on Bush a tax and foreign policies is soften the president up for the democratic nominee in the fall. Again in Georgia most of Buchanan a backers said they had voted for him to Send a message and the text of the message was economic anxiety. Unfortunately for the democrats they Are not much closer to settling on a Standard bearer than they were before tuesdays tests in seven states including three primaries an unofficial primary and three caucuses. And there is no certainty the 11 contests on super tuesday will Advance things much further. Tsongas the former Massachusetts senator who threatens to make counter Charisma Chic broke out of his new England base with his solid Victory in Maryland. He badly needed to do that because his new Hampshire Victory had been followed by a big disappointment in South Dakota. Apparently headed for Strong showings in Colorado and in some Western caucus states As Well Tsongas gave himself the kind of credibility without which he would probably be doomed on super tuesday. Endorsements from some major party figures Are expected to follow and he should be Able to raise enough Money to compete effectively on television. But Clinton of Arkansas also scored. He swept Georgia the first Southern state to declare its presidential preference this year and in doing so positioned himself to run strongly in the states that vote on super tuesday including six that Border on his Home territory of Arkansas Tennessee Mississippi Louisiana Texas Oklahoma and Missouri. A poll by voter research and surveys suggested that Clinton won the backing of almost three quarters of the Black voters in the Georgia primary a Good augury for him in the Days ahead because the Black vote has become indispensable to Victory for democrats in the South. He also won two thirds of the Black vote in Maryland. Georgia established Clinton As the solid favorite for saturdays primary in South Carolina where the population is about 30 percent Black. But in a Region that he had once hoped would sew up the nomination for him the governor now faces real Competition and super tuesday will probably not decide matters. As they have done for More than a month Tsongas and Clinton played the leading democratic roles in most of the contests on what has been dubbed Junior tuesday. But former gov. Edmund g. Brownjr. Of California who staged a Surprise in Maine on feb. 23 by finishing Only a hairs breadth behind Tsongas showed his Power in the West in a tight race with Tsongas and Clinton in Colorado and in some caucuses. C tha now York Timos 1991 candidates practical exams the pre breakfast character test. William f. Buckley  plans sloshing in sea of nonsense the Prospect of the Long fight ahead Between president Bush and Congress on the economic tax package is discouraging to anybody who wants actually to weigh the economic consequences of the provisions gimmicks being debated. If you have a Lotus 1-2-3 computer program in front of you and somebody from the office of management and budget on the other end of the Telephone line that might help a though not much Given that the bomb was about 100 percent off a year ago in its forecasts. And anyway you would be entitled to Survey the debate with a veterans scepticism. Are you Over 18? of what would be your comment on the following description from Usa today of the fiscal Impact of the democratic plan a raises about $14 billion More in tax hikes than spent on tax cuts with the excess going to deficit  if you believe that sorry you re a minor. Bring your id next time. Or. Bush a plan is a farrago of theses and that better oriented than the democratic passage but hopelessly lacking in intellectual or even ideological vertebrae. It has 11 provisions. If it had one More that read a no Federal Money will be paid in the next 10 years to Richard Darman nor shall he exercise any executive authority nor shall he be permitted within five Miles of the White House or Capitol Hill for five years a it would stand a better Chance of passage. But we will have now a series of votes of vetoes of threats bribes and expostulation. The democrats will try to make the Point that or. Bush favors the Rich. Or. Bush will try to make the Point that if the democrats Are serious about economic recovery they had better Stop worrying about the Rich and concentrate on How the Rich got Rich by productive economic Enterprise except those who inherited it from aunt Polly. There is lots and lots of Boob bait in the democratic package. My favorite is the provision that companies would no longer be permitted to deduct As a business expense any salary paid to a company official in excess of $1 million. To invite the . Government to become the arbiter of appropriate compensation in private companies is so loony one can Only suppose that the idea originated with Ralph Nader or Jerry Brown. But the democrats with the exception of Paul Tsongas who to quote Richard Nixon is too sensible to get nominated Are on an anti Rich frenzy. Do you know by the Way who is a a Rich ? the specifications of Richness Are not often enunciated by the candidates. But Here is How it works the median household income is $29,000-plus, lets Call it $30,000. Any family with less than one half that income is  any family with twice that income is  that is Why the $60,000 figure crops up from time to time in this or that economic Reform Bill. Or. And mrs. Jones whose joint income is $61,000 and who arc paying a mortgage on a House and sending three children through College will be surprised to know that they Are Rich. The democratic tax Bill Calls for increasing taxation on the Rich and the rate for someone earning a million dollars will be 38 percent. If you count in state and local taxes the tax begins to nudge up against the 50 percent tax from which we were saved by voodoo economics during the �?T80s. For those who seek political perspective Only four years ago Michael Dukakis running for president opposed any tax higher than 30 percent. Only Jesse Jackson called for higher taxes and the democratic professionals dosed their eyes and held their ears when he said it. He proposed a tax of 38 percent. Whatever the deficiencies in the package of George Bush republicans Are obliged to ask themselves what would we do without a Republican in the White House to veto All that nonsense c Uri Borsaj press Syndicate