For the Record

Wimp no more. Political pros are admiring the way George Bush set up the macho Dan Rather, live, perhaps changing the contour of the entire campaign. Question first: Will it play in Des Moines? Answer: It’s bound to help Bush in Iowa caucuses, narrowing the gap with Robert Dole, who continues to lead in Iowa polls. Some comments: ABC News’s Jeff Greenfield: “For the Republican Right, being attacked by Dan Rather is like being attacked by Qaddafi. That’s a plus for those people.” . . . Which New Right direct-mail wizard Richard Viguerie confirms: “George Bush hit a home run,” he said, since it is an article of faith among conservatives that the media are biased against them and “Rather embodies that bias.” . . . Latest Washington Post/ABC News poll nationally gives Bush 49 to 26 lead over Dole, same as last October. In match-ups against Democratic frontrunners, Bush beat Hart 53 to 39 per cent, Jackson 61 to 32 per cent.

Squishy-soft might be kindest description of Gary Hart lead in national polls. In latest CBS News/A. Y. Times poll Hart still leads Democratic field, topping Jesse Jackson 23 to 17 per cent. But among voters at large, only 18 per cent have favorable opinion of Hart; among Democrats his negative rating beats his positive rating, 31 to 22. . . . Analysts Robert and Linda Lichter point out that while Hart has gotten more TV exposure than all the other 12 candidates combined, more of that exposure has been negative than positive. … In Iowa (where he has slipped to 13 per cent from a postre-entry high of 34) 47 per cent of likely caucus-goers say he can’t be trusted, only 26 per cent think he is bringing new ideas to party. John Chubb, political scholar at Brookings, finds it “far-fetched” to think Hart will emerge as Democratic nominee. David Broder of Washing ton Post asks whether Hart’s record of “walking away” from situations (his name, church affiliation, divinity school, wife, campaign) hasn’t wounded him mortally with voters. Kevin Phillips sees Hart’s decline and coming eclipse as the end of a twenty-year-long Politics of Petulance, whose symbols were George McGovern, pollster and kingmaker Pat Caddell, and Hart himself.

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Presidential Election

Wimp no more. Political pros are admiring the way George Bush set up the macho Dan Rather, live, perhaps changing the contour of the entire campaign. Question first: Will it play in Des Moines? Answer: It’s bound to help Bush in Iowa caucuses, narrowing the gap with Robert Dole, who continues to lead in Iowa polls. Some comments: ABC News’s Jeff Greenfield: “For the Republican Right, being attacked by Dan Rather is like being attacked by Qaddafi. That’s a plus for those people.” . . . Which New Right direct-mail wizard Richard Viguerie confirms: “George Bush hit a home run,” he said, since it is an article of faith among conservatives that the media are biased against them and “Rather embodies that bias.” . . . Latest Washington Post/ABC News poll nationally gives Bush 49 to 26 lead over Dole, same as last October. In match-ups against Democratic frontrunners, Bush beat Hart 53 to 39 per cent, Jackson 61 to 32 per cent.

Squishy-soft might be kindest description of Gary Hart lead in national polls. In latest CBS News/A. Y. Times poll Hart still leads Democratic field, topping Jesse Jackson 23 to 17 per cent. But among voters at large, only 18 per cent have favorable opinion of Hart; among Democrats his negative rating beats his positive rating, 31 to 22. . . . Analysts Robert and Linda Lichter point out that while Hart has gotten more TV exposure than all the other 12 candidates combined, more of that exposure has been negative than positive. … In Iowa (where he has slipped to 13 per cent from a postre-entry high of 34) 47 per cent of likely caucus-goers say he can’t be trusted, only 26 per cent think he is bringing new ideas to party. John Chubb, political scholar at Brookings, finds it “far-fetched” to think Hart will emerge as Democratic nominee. David Broder of Washing ton Post asks whether Hart’s record of “walking away” from situations (his name, church affiliation, divinity school, wife, campaign) hasn’t wounded him mortally with voters. Kevin Phillips sees Hart’s decline and coming eclipse as the end of a twenty-year-long Politics of Petulance, whose symbols were George McGovern, pollster and kingmaker Pat Caddell, and Hart himself.