COMMENTARY / EXCERPTS

Once again the campaign proved the centrality of economics in the success or failure of Democrats. When Democrats successfully position themselves as the pocketbook champion of the ordinary man and woman, they win. When they fail to make that clear, Republicans eat the Democrats’ lunch on cultural, social and foreign-policy issues on which ordinary voters are conservative.

The Michael Dukakis who insisted that ideology was less important than competence, that the Supreme Court made him veto the Pledge of Allegiance, who was seen on paid TV spots insisting that patriotism and love of family were not partisan issues, who emphasized technical, non-ideological solutions, was a dismal failure. The Dukakis who began warning that America was going down the drain industrially because of the economic naivete of Republicans, who blasted Bush for proposing a tax cut averaging $30,000 for every rich person and $20 for working people, who addressed issues like first-time home-ownership, health care and college opportunity gained remarkable ground.