CAMPAIGN ’88 : Devout Campaigner

Many people are saying that the Paul Simon presidential campaign hasn’t got a prayer.

Not true.

Since Palm Sunday, when the Illinois senator, a regular churchgoer, attended services at the 88-year-old Lutheran church where his father was ordained a minister, Simon’s church visits have been a mainstay of his campaign schedule.

He showed up for:

--Maundy Thursday evening services in a Lutheran church in frosty Superior, Wis.

--Good Friday services in Wausau, where many businesses close at noon for Good Friday churchgoing. Simon’s uncle, the Rev. Henry Simon, chose as his sermon subject: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

--A Friday evening Passover seder at a Milwaukee rabbi’s home.

--Today, he plans to attend an Easter sunrise Lutheran service and a morning Mass at a Milwaukee Polish Catholic church with his wife, Jeanne, who is Catholic.