Media Politics : Presidential vs. Spirited Images on TV

The television networks presented contrasting images of the two presidential campaigns Tuesday, with a confident Vice President George Bush discussing foreign policy and Michael S. Dukakis waging an uphill but spirited fight to get back in the race.

Bush got a strong boost from CBS-TV, which opened its broadcast with a network poll indicating that the vice president enjoyed a 53%-41% lead. But the network did not dampen speculation that Dukakis might be gaining in the polls, noting that more than 20% of the electorate had yet to make up its mind.

In their evening news coverage, all three networks gave lengthy air time to a speech Bush delivered at the University of Notre Dame, noting that his campaign had assumed a more presidential mode.

Bush’s call for an early summit with Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev without preconditions was noted, for example, and CBS called it a distinct “break” with Reagan Administration policy.

Note Bush Attack

However, all three networks pointed out that the vice president got back in the trenches when he launched a new attack on Dukakis, this time suggesting that his opponent lacked common sense. Bush was seen speaking forcefully, but he appeared to be rattled when demonstrators protesting the way tickets had been distributed for the speech were escorted out of the college auditorium.

Dukakis, meanwhile, told NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw in an extended interview that he had made several mistakes in his campaign. Pressed by Brokaw, he conceded that he should have been more aggressive in his second debate with Bush and that it “probably” was a mistake not to have given a more forceful answer to a question that hypothesized the rape and murder of his wife.

However, Dukakis was then shown giving a similarly flat answer Tuesday to the exact same question. He conceded that he would be tempted to murder a criminal who raped and murdered his wife, Kitty, but noted that “this is not a country where we glorify vengeance.”

Upbeat Dukakis Shown

In a more upbeat mood, Dukakis was seen telling cheering supporters in Milwaukee that he could “smell victory in the air.” CBS and ABC also covered the Democratic nominee’s attack on a fund-raiser for the Bush campaign who had allegedly sought a lucrative job lobbying in Washington for Haiti’s strongman president, Lt. Gen. Prosper Avril.

Correspondent Sam Donaldson noted that Dukakis’ message is crisper and more focused than it has been in weeks. But he closed his report with the suggestion that while the strategy Dukakis is pursuing might be simple, his task of closing the gap with Bush is not.