European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 10, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The president runs for office Andy Rodney this is one of those times i get thinking i would be better for the country if the president were elected for one six Yea term. If a president knew he had six Yea Sand did t have to Start worrying about the next election during the second week of his first term he could Stop blowing smoke and Start 3oing the things that need to be done not what is most Likely to get him re Clicc cd. President Clinton is spending half his time being president and the other half running for office. Considering All the trouble it s Given him it s hard to understand Why he wants to be president at All but he s obviously determined to win a second term and he s doing the things he thinks will make that happen. Recently Clinton announced that there would be Strong new measures taken to Cut Down on the num Ber of Young people who become addicted to cigarettes. He wants the food and drug administration to declare nicotine an addictive drug so the govern ment can take control of All aspects of the tobacco business. I hate myself for being so suspicious but it must have occurred to Clinton that coming out against the tobacco companies and in favor of kids not getting into a habit that could Lead them to an Early death was not a controversial stand to take for a Man run Ning for office. No one except sen. Jesse Helms and Phillip mor Ris himself would complain about a president who announces that he s going to try to Stop kids from smoking. I be known people who wanted kids to Stop smoking since i was eight. Or. A cavy was principal of school 4 and i remember How mad he was when he caught some kids smoking after school out of Ontario Street. The kids did t Stop smoking though. They just went Over to Western ave nue before they lit up so or. A cavy would t catch them. Or. A cavy had no influence at All and  says or docs will make any difference to cigarette smok ers either. Nothing Ever docs. It in t As if various govern ment agencies Haven t tried to disco Iago smoking. In 1956, the average Price of a pack of cigarettes was about what the Federal tax on a pack is today 24 cents. The retail Price of a pack now is up around $2. The state taxes vary wildly. In the state of Washington it s 81 cents a pack in Virginia Only 2 /2 cents. Taxes have had Little effect on sales. Smokers find a Way. If the tax is 75 cents in Michigan they go Over to Indiana where it s 15 cents. Arizona recently raised its per pack tax to 58 cents so people arc buying cigarettes on the Indian reservations. Cigarette advertising was banned from radio and television years ago but it s had no effect on the number of Young people who Start smoking every year and if i were in the business of Selling Advertis ing for a newspaper or television i d be very nervous about How the sales of illegal drugs continue to in crease even though there has never been an Advertis ing slogan a Cowboy or a pretty woman in an and try ing to encourage people to buy the stuff. The colombian drug Cartel does t spend a Nickel. Their product Sells without advertising. There does t seem to be any reason Why people president Clinton has spent half of his time being president and the other half winning for president. Do or do not smoke. I Don t know Why i never did. It was t for any High minded reason that Calls for self congratulation on my part. It was t a moral stand i took and it did t have anything to do with people telling me it was bad for me. Most smokers arc con trite but there s no reason they should be. David Burke an aide to Teddy Kennedy and a former lbs news president who once suspended me said of his Chain smoking it s a character  coming out against teen age addiction to cigarettes May help Clinton get elected and it s an Admi Ruble thing for him to do but it won t Stop Many kids from smoking and i wish the president would spend his Energy on some problem the government could have some effect on and which did  so much like a re election Effort. Tribune Media services Andy Rooney is a former stars and stripes reporter. Gender Gap could engulf politicians Clarence Page seventy five years after women first won the right to vote a recent poll by a  Middle of the Road women s political group is leaving political expert scratching their Heads in confusion. 1. After stressing the importance of the women s vote form orc than a decade a vote that  time Lias tilted heavily toward democrats while men have tilted Republican the bipartisan National women s political caucus issued a report recently that concludes the so called gender Gap is overrated. The gender Gap is in danger of being blown out of proportion said Rociy Newman the caucus s executive director. That s a significant shift. For years the caucus has argued that the voting differences Between men and women deserved top priority attention from both Par tics. _ _ Why the shift perhaps the caucus is trying to move the Clinton White House and re election Campaign away from issues targeted too boldly to women such As social services and affirmative action and toward the More presumably Manly issues of Supply Side economics and deficit reduction. If so democrats should move with caution. The gender Gap is alive arid Well largely because of the changing work roles of men and women and the Way each group views its future. The caucus presented data showing that the parti san Gap Between men and women is smaller than the  Divide Between marrieds and in marrieds Rural and Urban protestant and jew Rich and poor and White and Black. For example the democratic Republican Gap be tween men and women in 1994 was 11.1 percentage Points compared to 49,7 Points Between Black and White voters. Well to say the male female Gap is smaller than the Black White Gap is to show a keen grasp of the obvious. The More important question is Why is there a gender Gap at All " for years it was t there. Women voted almost identically to men until the Post-1950s Era of rapidly increasing divorce two worker he add households find single working Mother headed households came along. If anything should be blatantly obvious to those of us who have lived through the Industrial changes in America since the 60s, it is this women arc More Likely than before to work outside the Home in serv ice oriented jobs and with Union memberships. At the same time men arc working in fewer High paying Low skilled repetitive work jobs that built America s Industrial age. Most of those jobs have disappeared taken Over in most cases by Automa Tion overseas labor or corporate downsizing. There is less space less pay and less organized labor in the information age for yesterday s Blue col Lar male even while there has been an explosion in High tech jobs and Small business enterprises. A closer More informative look at the gender Gap was revealed in a poll conducted by democratic poll Ster Celinda Lake of Lake research and Republican pollster cd Goeas of the tarrance group. More than half the men 53 percent in the poll published in the aug. 14 Issue of . News & world report thought government was the prob 1cm, compared to Only 43 percent of the women. Almost half of the men thought Republican Bud get cuts had not gone far enough while More than half of the women thought they had gone too far. Only 27 percent of the women agreed that the Bud get needed More cuts it should be no Surprise that an increased number of White men would want to see Public budgets Cut along with the rights of Union workers now that White male Union membership and government employment is hitting All Torric lows. Nor should it be surprising that women working in the social services or depending on social services in much larger numbers than men would be considerably More horrified that their budgets arc savaged. The question for each political party to answer is this How can it Best serve the interests and soothe the anxieties of both genders at Century s end As the traditional work and homemaking roles of both sexes dramatically change at present the inability of either party s leading candidates to answer that question satisfactorily May account for recent upsurge in support for an inde pendent alternative party candidate. Chicago Tribuno. Page 20 sunday september 10, 1995