THE WEEK

liberal dilemma dept.: Tom Hayden, upon returning from a visit with Solidarity leaders in Poland: “There has to be some way to appreciate the brutality of the Soviet Union toward human rights without becoming a cold-warrior.”

When the Gallup poll released June 30 showed George Bush climbing suddenly to a mere three-point deficit against Michael Dukakis, the pundits cast about for explanations. Here is what they’ve come up with: 1) The Dukakis campaign resembles Tom Dewey’s 1948 campaign, selling “competence” but weak on persuasive examples; Dukakis’s “good manager” image was hurt by recent revelations of the Massachusetts budget deficit. 2) Dukakis was immensely aided by running against the extremist Jesse Jackson and thus seeming moderate; now Dukakis is on his own. 3) The feeling is spreading that there is less to Dukakis than meets the eye. 4) Massachusetts’s prisoner furloughs and Dukakis’s veto of a bill mandating the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools are grounds for suspicion. 5) The Massachusetts of George McGovern, Ted Kennedy, and John Kerry is not one of our most popular states.

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liberal dilemma dept.: Tom Hayden, upon returning from a visit with Solidarity leaders in Poland: “There has to be some way to appreciate the brutality of the Soviet Union toward human rights without becoming a cold-warrior.”

When the Gallup poll released June 30 showed George Bush climbing suddenly to a mere three-point deficit against Michael Dukakis, the pundits cast about for explanations. Here is what they’ve come up with: 1) The Dukakis campaign resembles Tom Dewey’s 1948 campaign, selling “competence” but weak on persuasive examples; Dukakis’s “good manager” image was hurt by recent revelations of the Massachusetts budget deficit. 2) Dukakis was immensely aided by running against the extremist Jesse Jackson and thus seeming moderate; now Dukakis is on his own. 3) The feeling is spreading that there is less to Dukakis than meets the eye. 4) Massachusetts’s prisoner furloughs and Dukakis’s veto of a bill mandating the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools are grounds for suspicion. 5) The Massachusetts of George McGovern, Ted Kennedy, and John Kerry is not one of our most popular states.