Slow on the Draw

America’s low tolerance for politics and politicians--and a willingness to believe the worst, even when that is the focus of so much of modern campaigning--has been demonstrated once again. So has the vulnerability of American campaigning to political night-riders.

Democrat Michael S. Dukakis probably should have moved more quickly when he became aware of a whispering campaign accusing him of hiding a history of mental illness. According to Dr. Gerald Plotkin, his personal doctor since 1971, Dukakis “has had no psychological symptoms, complaints or treatment.” Knowing that all along, Dukakis may have assumed that everyone would take his word for it and respect what, in retrospect, was a misguided insistence on a right to some privacy.

By moving more quickly, he could have spared himself a close call with political oblivion. He also could have spared President Reagan’s seeming to equate having a mental illness with being an invalid--surely one of the more tasteless lapses of his presidency.

But Dukakis, as are all candidates, was helpless to prevent the zealots of Lyndon H. LaRouche’s organization from passing around handbills at the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta to get the rumors rolling. It was a sordid episode, one that hurt everyone involved except the night-riders.