‘Time to Go Flat Out,’ Bentsen Tells Democrats in 3-State Tour

Democratic vice presidential nominee Lloyd Bentsen took his campaign to three states Wednesday, trying to convince Democrats that they have enough time to turn the presidential race around.

“We’ve got six more days in this campaign, and it’s a time to go flat out to win it,” Bentsen said to supporters in Akron.

He told a rally in Carbondale, Ill., that Republicans “are already popping their champagne corks. But let me tell you something: On Nov. 9, they’re going to have the worst hangover you’ve ever seen.”

To make his point as he stumped in Illinois, Ohio and West Virginia, Bentsen waved a copy of the famous 1948 erroneous Chicago Tribune headline--”DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN.”

Vice President George Bush would have the nation “coast into the future set on cruise control and looking into the rear-view mirror,” Bentsen said.

Misgivings About Quayle

Campaign aides say their internal polls show that misgivings about the qualifications of Bentsen’s GOP counterpart, Indiana Sen. Dan Quayle, are weighing on crucial undecided voters in the final days before the election. Bentsen, on the other hand, has received the highest favorable ratings of any candidate on either ticket.

To capitalize on that contrast, Bentsen is taking a more visible role in the national campaign. Strategists have stepped up his schedule outside his native Texas, and Bentsen is being featured in more advertising.

Bentsen continued to jab at Quayle in his appearances Wednesday.

“I happen to be a Quayle hunter,” he repeated at every stop.

He noted before an audience of steelworkers at an LTV Corp. plant here, for example, that Quayle had opposed legislation requiring companies to notify workers 60 days before they close a plant. “He thought that a pink slip in the mail was notice enough,” Bentsen said.

Alleges GOP Distortions

He described Republican tactics as “a campaign of distortion, of cynicism, of complete character assassination against Michael Dukakis.” Bentsen said Republicans had unfairly questioned the Democratic presidential nominee’s patriotism and distorted his record on a number of issues, including gun control.

The election, Bentsen said, will amount to “a referendum on mudslinging . . . . If that kind of tactic wins, then that’s the kind of presidential elections you’ll have from now on, and America deserves better.”