The Iceman Cometh

Michael Dukakis has one ambiguous asset in his quest for the White House: an almost invulnerable ego. In his own mind, he doesn’t make mistakes. His rigidity is legendary. When he made one of the major gaffes of this campaign—denouncing foreign ownership of American industry in what turned out to be an Italian-owned factory—he insisted afterward that “it wasn’t a faux pas.” Nobody else agreed.

Dukakis’s ego suffered one shattering blow when he lost his first gubernatorial re-election bid to Edward King in 1978, but it seems to have made a full recovery. No fact can pierce the armor of his self-assurance, and unlike most politicians, he is undeterred by adverse public opinion. If the American people favor a mandatory Pledge of Allegiance in their schools, they are wrong. His state supreme court tells him so. And his opinion is only fortified by the fact that the court is dominated by his own appointees.

DF

About the Author

Don Feder

Featured Tags

Manage following

Massachusetts

Presidential Election

Michael Dukakis has one ambiguous asset in his quest for the White House: an almost invulnerable ego. In his own mind, he doesn’t make mistakes. His rigidity is legendary. When he made one of the major gaffes of this campaign—denouncing foreign ownership of American industry in what turned out to be an Italian-owned factory—he insisted afterward that “it wasn’t a faux pas.” Nobody else agreed.

Dukakis’s ego suffered one shattering blow when he lost his first gubernatorial re-election bid to Edward King in 1978, but it seems to have made a full recovery. No fact can pierce the armor of his self-assurance, and unlike most politicians, he is undeterred by adverse public opinion. If the American people favor a mandatory Pledge of Allegiance in their schools, they are wrong. His state supreme court tells him so. And his opinion is only fortified by the fact that the court is dominated by his own appointees.