European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 10, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday april 10, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 13 commentary Tom Rau Mclinton s latest primary wins Are bittersweet once again Bill Clinton has established himself As the Likely democratic nominee. But the numbers behind his victories could signal trouble this fall for the Arkansas governor. Although weary party leaders embraced Clinton after his primary wins tuesday they had to be sobered by his less than overwhelming margins and by exit polls that continued to show considerable voter discontent. A majority of democrats who responded to exit polls tuesday said they would prefer to see someone else in the race. And Only about half the democrats questioned said they thought Clinton has the honesty to be president. R the general election in fact could turn into a Battle of disapproval ratings Between president Bush and Clinton. Although to some extent the negatives of the two expected nominees May cancel each other out Bush could e helped substantially by an improving Economy. Clinton a win in the crucial new York primary with 41 percent of the vote shows a that six out of 10 new yorkers want someone else. That is hardly a resounding vote of approval a said analyst Stuart Rothenberg who publishes a political newsletter. A this is not the Early primaries anymore. Now we re talking about the nomination. When the favorite gets 41 percent you be got to conclude that the democratic electorate is fractured a Rothenberg said. Veteran democratic strategist Thomas Doni Lon said a a there a obviously repair work to do and that a what Clinton and the party need to get about despite ominous Clouds that May loom on the horizon Clinton clearly was cheered by tuesdays results particularly his decisive wins Over Brown. Clinton won new York Kansas and Wisconsin and was locked in a very close race Early wednesday with Brown in Minnesota. A these last two weeks have been like a ride on the Coney Island Cyclone a Clinton told supporters. A ups and Downs. Twists and turns. But now that in be been through it All in be got to admit i had a republicans also were applauding the results a cheered not Only by Bush a sweep of gop primaries but by the democratic numbers. A a we re taking some Comfort from the fact that voters in new York particularly do not seem to find any of the democratic candidates particularly acceptable a Bush Campaign manager Fred Malek said. A sixty percent of them voted for somebody other than some 66 percent of new York democrats said they would like to see someone else enter the race As did 58 percent in Wisconsin and Minnesota and 60 percent in Kansas according to the to networks exit poll. But republicans take too much heart. Prev so of the 1992 0u�-Clinton Feu Amie amp no own on own to amp exit polls showed that As Many As 42 percent of Republican voters done to approve of the Job Bush is doing As president a a High disapproval level from members of the presidents own party. Clinton should get some important boosts from the upcoming series of primaries. Analysts suggest he should have no trouble winning this weekends democratic caucuses in Virginia or other contests in the South including races next month in North Carolina and his Home state of Arkansas. The next Large population primary is Pennsylvania on april 28, and Clinton goes into it As the Clear favorite. Even so Clinton a failure to get a 50 percent margin of Victory in new York could continue to dog him and expose his general election vulnerability a even if he has a virtual lock on the democratic nomination. A a we re in situation where a lot of people have said we done to want Bill Clinton. This is the front runners dilemma Here Quot said Gregg Label a political scientist at George Washington University in Washington. Label who worked in the campaigns of previous democratic contenders Gary Hart and sen. A1 Gore said Clinton risks a death by a thousand cuts Quot while a Bush is going to hang in the Rose Garden the next several weeks. Head be crazy not and looking Forward to the general election democratic pollster Mark Mellman said tuesdays contests showed Clinton so a unfavourable ratings Are about the same As George Bush a. They re disliked about equally As much. That makes for a real competitive democrats have to be hoping that Clinton does no to follow the path of the last Democrat whose Campaign won a virtual lock on the nomination by virtue of the new York primary a Michael Dukakis in 1988. C the associated Pross _ Anna Quin Plenor Lack of White knights Clinton s the Choice the daffodils Are pressing skyward the Winter Coats Are ratty and in need of a rest and july will be Here before we know it. It is time to get serious. We be had our season of none of the above the complaints that or. Right never stepped up to a podium and into our lives. Like the stages of serious illness we be passed through anger and denial during this primary season. It is time for Resolution reconciliation a what the existential or the insurgent might Call peace. Bill Clinton is going to be the democratic candidate for president. He has the experience he a done the time. A brokered convention would mock the primary process. For a few More minutes we can entertain the notion of a composite candidate the oratory of Cuomo the War record of Kerrey the labor support of Harkin the sheer decency of Tsongas Bradley a vision thing a bit of Nunn and Gore and Gephardt. And a Good Deal of regret too at All the candidates who stayed out of the race and must be kicking themselves today. Enough ident kit scenarios. It s been a hard primary season filled with questions. Clinton Wasny to very Good at some of the answers. He seemed to be doing a complicated minuet with his real self the dance of the apologist for the Erson he once was. His evasions made in news. But Over and Over you hear about folks who Are uncomfortable with him who think he a too Slick or too polished or just not quite quite. And then they meet him. And their opinion changes. Bill Clinton is a Guy who does better up close and personal. Photographs and printed quotes do him no service. They Lack twang. For months he a been telling new spa Jer reporters that the american people Tave More important concerns than who tees bedded and it read like excuses excuses excuses. But when he threw it Back at Phil Donahue told him they were going to be sitting in silence for a Long time if this line of questioning continued he won the audience in no time Flat. Donahue is just what Clinton needs even if the political snobs think its declasse. That and any other place that lets him behave in a Way local politicians do on a swing Down main Street. Clinton needs to shake the voters hands and look into their eyes at least metaphorically. He is Good on Many of the issues although he has a democrats unfortunate propensity for pie in the sky for spinning social welfare wish lists without really sex fila ining where the Money will come rom. And i remain deeply troubled by the fact that he refused to Issue an order of executive clemency to halt the execution of a brain damaged convicted murderer earlier this year. But at least he knows what the issues Are knows that we need some new deals. His Republican opponent will be a Man who if he had a heart tattooed on his bicep a All right suspend credulity with me for the Sake of the image a would have the words a status Quot emblazoned in the Center. Clinton a empathy for the poor and the striving seems genuine the natural outgrowth of his own hardscrabble childhood. He needs to communicate that to the people and in the process bring them his own self. Ronald Reagan needed television to abet a fantasy. Clinton needs it to communicate his reality. Its time for a reality fix. Its time to get pragmatic. I hate pragmatism in presidential politics i suspect that makes me not so different from a lot of other people. Every four years idealism seizes me by the Throat and i wait for a White Knight. Perhaps this is the character flaw of someone whose first seminal political act was kneeling on a linoleum floor saying the Rosary with the sixth Grade the Day John f. Kennedy was killed. But what i hate More than pragmatism is the idea of the democrats expending their political capital on bickering an what is the idea of four years of disaffection with a White House that now More than Ever seems to hover on some astr plane above the workaday world. It no longer serves to compare Clinton with Jerry Brown or Paul Tsongas or some fantasy Man we yearned to embrace in the face of our natural disasters. This has been a season of hard questions but at its end comes an easy one. At a certain Point none of the above begins to sound dangerously like four More years. Is that really the message we want to Send George Bush c Tho now York Timos
