Dukakis: Getting Close

Critics keep complaining that Gov. Michael S. Dukakis is all substance and no style. If the carping has slowed him down at all, it certainly hasn’t stopped him. He considerably brightened his outlook at the Democratic presidential nominating convention in Atlanta with his show of strength in New York where he collected more than 50% of the vote in a three-way primary contest with Jesse Jackson and Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore Jr.

Gore should be out of the running by dusk today and then it will be the two of them, Dukakis and Jackson. Jackson carried New York City by a slim margin but could not make a dent in the suburbs or anywhere else in the state. Thus Gore’s departure should give Dukakis an even better chance to add delegates in the neighboring industrial states of Pennsylvania and Ohio in coming weeks. If uncommitted delegates and elected officials who have automatic delegate status flock to Dukakis, front-runner fever may take hold and he could go into Atlanta with enough commitments to take the nomination. But that started to happen another time, before the big Jackson upset in Michigan.

Everyone talked about the nastiness of the New York campaign. What else is new? But it must be noted that Dukakis and Jackson conducted themselves commendably throughout. The major discordant note, as usual, was struck by New York Mayor Edward Koch, who at least exhibited his own style of grace in acknowledging that his attacks on Jackson did not help his candidate, Gore.

While Dukakis sought ethnic voter support, he did not make grandiose promises to a wide array of commitment-seeking groups as many Democratic candidates have in the past in New York. This should work to his benefit in the fall general election campaign if he is the nominee.

Many Democrats still complain about Dukakis’ lack of charisma and outward passion. But his campaign has weathered difficult times by displaying many of the characteristics that Americans normally seek in a President: determination, consistency, stamina and an effective organization of competent aides and supporters. One political expert commented: “He didn’t have any breathtaking performances, but he was always there--a good solid B-plus.” Given the recent history of American presidential politics, that is not bad, either for Dukakis or for substance.