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1996 elections shaping up to be the most boring ever

By Daily Bruin Staff

Nov. 3, 1996 9:00 p.m.

Monday, November 4, 1996

NEWS ANALYSIS:

Lack of real issues or differences between parties adds to the
monotonyBy Christopher Bates

Daily Bruin Staff

Tricky Dick. Log Cabins. Read my lips. Know-nothings. I like
Ike. Tippecanoe and Tyler too. Vote for Jerry’s wife.

These are bits of the lore left to posterity from elections
past.

Just don’t do it. Whitewater. Ralph Nader. Al Gore.

These are the things that the election of 1996 will leave to
history. Not exactly the stuff that legends are made of.

It seems to many that, for a variety of reasons, this year’s
election is shaping up to be one of the most boring in American
history.

"This year’s (election) is definitely more boring than the last
(in 1992)," said Brady Park, a second-year biochemistry student.
"In 1992, Clinton was on MTV as a Generation X-type of president."
Now, Brady claims, Clinton is more moderate and less appealing to
younger voters.

In 1894, President Grover Cleveland said, "What is the use of
being elected or re-elected, unless you stand for something?"

It is a lesson that seems to be largely lost on Bob Dole and
Bill Clinton, for whom departures from the center of the political
system have been almost as rare as Perot debate appearances.

This is partly due to the nature of presidential politics.
American political opinion is distributed in a bell-shaped curve
around the political center, and thus presidents are forced to be
more moderate when attempting to build an electoral coalition.

This tendency has been reinforced by the state of current
national politics. The ’90shave been marked by a weakening of the
divisions between political parties, as both Republicans and
Democrats move toward a shared vision for the future.

"They (the parties) were able to agree on remaining problems and
broad goals," said Professor Thomas Schwartz of the UCLA Department
of Political Science. "And you know they are pursuing similar goals
when all but the most studious members of the public are turned off
because (they don’t) feel a solid difference."

In particular, Dole has been robbed of the single most important
issue that presidential aspirants can ride to the Oval Office,
namely, the economy.

"Americans feel better about themselves and their economy today
than they did four years ago," agrees political science professor
Steven Spiegel. "It is hard to beat an incumbent president when
people feel that way."

Since both candidates agree on most of the major issues, the
candidates have turned to questions of character and past
performance ­ negative issues that turn many voters off.

"I think that because Clinton does everything to make Dole look
bad and Dole does everything to make Clinton look bad … it’s all
negative propaganda and not positive, and because it’s not positive
people aren’t interested," said second-year student Shalinee
Tolani.

"I don’t think the candidates are very respectable," agreed
fourth-year student Dani O’Byrne.

"I don’t think they’ve got a lot to offer, and so, I think that
there’s just a definite negative aura around the election," O’Byrne
said.

But the lack of substance behind the candidates’ campaigns is
only part of the reason for the apathy that surrounds the election
of 1996. Equally significant is the candidates themselves.

Of the men who have served as president, perhaps the most
analogous to Bill Clinton is John F. Kennedy. Both entered the oval
office at a young age, with a fair amount of naivete and a liberal
agenda.

Kennedy, however, was able to minimize these difficulties with
his incredible charisma. He was confident, witty and charming.
During the election of 1960 he told a gathering that he was
addressing about a note he had just received from his father,
Joseph.

"I have just received the following telegram from my generous
Daddy. It says, ‘Dear Jack: Don’t buy a single vote more than is
necessary. I’ll be damned if I’m going to pay for a landslide."

This is the sort of thing that endears Americans to their
political leaders, and explains the legendary status that Kennedy
has attained in American political culture.

Bill Clinton is certainly no slouch in the wit department.
Announcing a case of laryngitis in 1994, he told reporters, "My
doctor ordered me to shut up, which will make every American
happy." Not bad, but not Jack Kennedy either.

And then there’s Bob Dole.

Dole has not been very successful on the national level. Running
in 1976 he failed as Gerald Ford’s vice-presidential running mate.
In 1980, running for president, he only got 607 votes in the New
Hampshire primary.

In 1988, Dole did a little better, winning Iowa and coming in
second in New Hampshire. But his campaign collapsed under the
weight of certain blunders, such as his refusal, on national
television, to sign a ‘no tax’ pledge presented to him by fellow
candidate Pierre S. Du Pont.

"(Dole) is a problem-solver, not a showman," says professor John
Bader, Associate Director of the UCLA Center for American Politics
and Public Policy. "We live in a media-dominated era, which lends
itself to public spectacle, not quiet compromise. For better or
ill, that calls on a different set of skills than Bob Dole has
developed for nearly 40 years."

Political science professor James Q. Wilson agrees that Dole has
a limited ability to connect with the national electorate. "(Dole)
has spent 30-plus years in Congress learning to speak Congress talk
… Speaking to the public at large is a very different language.
Whether he ever had that original language I don’t know, but he
doesn’t have it now," he said.

A lack of concrete issues differentiating the candidates and the
immense lead that Clinton currently has over Dole has left most
voters uninterested.

Remarks Spiegel, "It’s like watching a football game where the
score is 35-7 in the second quarter and then nothing happens. And
nothing much has happened."

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