CAMPAIGN ’88 : Rare Burst of Oratory

Campaign ‘88, alas, will not be remembered for its oratory. Yet, amid the humdrum and drear, a few moments stand out.

Tuesday afternoon, for example, Mecca Auditorium in Milwaukee. Big Dave Schultz.

Schultz, who looks as though he has enjoyed every meal that has helped him earn his nickname, serves greater Milwaukee as its county executive. He served as crowd warmer Tuesday for Dukakis. His theme was a standard one: wayward Democrats should “come home” to the party of their roots. But, oh, the language.

Franklin D. Roosevelt had forged a coalition, he told the crowd. Harry S. Truman had preserved it, John F. Kennedy had advanced it.

“But today, many of the sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters” of that original coalition “have deserted to the other side. Some were motivated by selfishness,” he said.

“Others were attracted by the divisive and destructive but somehow seductive siren song of the Republicans. Like a callow youth, they were lured away from the wholesome girl next door by a painted lady living in a trailer at the edge of town. It’s time to come home.”