Democrats Compare Dukakis to Come-From-Behind Dodgers

Borrowing political imagery from the national pastime, Democrats on Sunday likened their candidate to the Los Angeles Dodgers and predicted that although Michael S. Dukakis is trailing in the late innings, he might well swat a Kirk Gibson-style home run.

“I think we’re going to be like the Dodgers last night,” vice presidential nominee Lloyd Bentsen said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “It looked like they were down and out and, all of a sudden, they hit a home run and won it. And I think we can do that in the next 24 days.”

The comparison to Gibson, limping and wincing from hamstring and knee injuries, was not entirely flattering to the Democratic nominee, but one former Democratic rival could not resist completing the World Series metaphor.

“This is an extremely close race,” Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore Jr. said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “And I think you’re going to see Mike Dukakis come on like Kirk Gibson in the bottom of the ninth inning last night in that game, with two outs, and he came out, he could barely walk around the base paths, and he knocked a home run to win the game.”