From Philly to LA

Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush8217;s acerbic comment that Al Gore8217;s speech at the Democratic Party Convention in Los Angeles last week was just a 8220;laundry list of old promises8221; gives early promise of what lies ahead. Now that both the US presidential candidates have ridden their convention highs, life in the ring is bound to be brutish and short. Clearly, Bush8217;s main concern in the days ahead would be to consolidate his popular appeal and hang on to his significant opinion poll leads. Gore8217;s, in contrast, would be to claim the legacy of the Clinton era 8212; with its biggest surpluses ever, its lowest inflation levels, and its 22 million new jobs a year 8212; as his own, even while delicately distancing himself from the sexual odium that continues to attach itself to the White House. By the time election day comes along on November 7, the US electorate may well witness its dirtiest presidential campaign ever, dirtier even than the one that provoked Michael Dukakis to once exclaim so memorably,8220;They are throwing the kitchen sink at me!8221; As another grand jury sits to take another look at the Monica Lewinsky affair and the Bush-Gore televised debates start rolling in October, a lot of dirt is going to hit the ceiling at primetime.

What8217;s lost in all the television soundbites, telegenic buntings and table thumping, is the substantial stuff. Both candidates have made a whole host of promises but are still fuzzy about how they propose to redeem their pledges. Bush8217;s avowed 8220;compassionate conservatism8221; seems to clash rather sharply with his strong resistance to gun control and his reputation for being something of a serial executioner. Texas, the state of which he is governor, has registered the highest number of executions of all the states of the union, besides having a particularly unenviable record in terms of its environment management. Gore, in a frankly desperate attempt to mop up the Left vote, which has been alienated by the laissez-faire, hands off economic politics of the Clinton administration, has in a calibrated show of generosity promised to invest in healthcare, education and retirement benefits, without giving too much evidence of how he plans to finance all this. As one commentator pointed out that while Bush is notgoing to face hostility from the right, Gore is certainly going to be contested from the left.

Indeed, things have gotten so curious that both the Republican and Democratic candidates sometimes sound like each other. When Bush coos about 8220;essential values8221; at Philadelphia and promises to tear down the walls separating haves and have-nots, American voters may be forgiven in thinking that this is really Gore disguised as his political opponent making his presidential pitch. And when Gore goes on about the family in Los Angeles, he8217;s quite clearly dipping into the Republican cache of family values. Bush8217;s acknowledged strength lies in his ability to pick good advisers and Gore8217;s, his record as a hardworking vice-president. The American electorate would, without doubt, have very enthusiastically voted in a candidate who combined Bush8217;s easy charm with Gore8217;s attention to detail. But as things are, it will have to make a rather difficult choice come November.