Dukakis Hails Debate’s Look at Real Issues

A fired-up Michael S. Dukakis, claiming a post-debate boost in his own polls, told a cheering crowd today that his nationally televised showdown with George Bush provided “the best moments of this whole campaign.”

“The American people finally had the chance to look beyond the slogans and the labels, the photo opportunities and the flag-waving, and get down to the real issues,” Democrat Dukakis said, standing before several thousand people in Public Square with his sleeves rolled up.

Although various surveys found a somewhat mixed public opinion over who “won” Sunday night’s debate, the Dukakis campaign said its own overnight polls showed their candidate was clearly the victor and enjoyed a sharp increase in favorable ratings.

“How many of you saw the debate last night?” Dukakis boomed, drawing resounding cheers from the predominantly blue-collar crowd.

“How many of you thought I won?” he asked to even louder shouts, punctuated with chants of “Duke, Duke, Duke.”

Dukakis said, “My friends, what happened last night was long overdue. Those 90 minutes were the best moments of this whole campaign.”

Bush ‘Offers No Solutions’

“Mr. Bush offers the easy way,” he said. “He sees no challenges. He offers no solutions. And he will lead America nowhere as President of the United States.”

He added, “As President I’m going to be setting goals for this country” including health insurance for “every working family,” affordable child care and “a real war” against drugs.

Dukakis, as he has been doing recently, refused to field questions from reporters traveling with his campaign.

His aides deflected criticism that he has failed during the debate to specify how he would handle the record federal deficit.

In a four-page analysis, the Dukakis campaign charged that Bush committed 15 “distortions” in the debate. Among them:

--Bush said there was “no hard evidence” that Panama’s Gen. Manuel A. Noriega was involved in drugs until the Administration indicted him this year. The Dukakis campaign countered today that the “Administration had plenty of evidence as early as 1984.”

Earlier Agreements Cited

--Bush said, “We now have the first arms control agreement in the nuclear age.” The Dukakis campaign said every President since John F. Kennedy has signed one with the Soviet Union.

--The vice president said, “I want to banish chemical and biological weapons.” The Dukakis campaign said Bush cast three tie-breaking votes in the Senate to renew production of such weapons.