CAMPAIGN ’88 : Clean Water Clashes Spread to the Pacific

Democratic presidential nominee Michael S. Dukakis has started a new television ad in Southern California that blasts Vice President George Bush’s record on the environment, an issue that could be crucial in this state’s elections.

“Bush’s Administration cut funding to clean up our coast,” says a narrator as pictures of San Francisco Bay and the Southern California coast roll by.

The ad was produced by Doak, Shrum & Associates, whose highly effective environmental ads helped Democratic Sen. Alan Cranston win reelection in 1986.

But Dukakis, who has suffered from Bush’s aggressive attacks on a range of issues, still is leading with his chin. So concerned is the Massachusetts’ governor about Bush’s commercials showing the pollution of Boston Harbor, he felt compelled to begin the new ad with a defense, of sorts.

“George Bush is complaining about Boston Harbor,” says the ad, “but it was Bush’s Administration that cut funds to clean it up,” a reference to the Reagan Administration cuts in Clean Water Act funds.