‘Bubba’ to ‘Wonk’: A Lexicon for ’92 Race

To get through this incredibly complex presidential campaign, one needs to bone up on “the Bubba vote,” listen to the “policy wonks” and see if the candidates are “pander bears” or members of the “Brie and Volvo set.”

As if winding one’s way through the electioneering jungle weren’t hard enough, the campaigners and their handlers have made it tougher by adopting an insider’s vocabulary.

Here are some translation tips:

First, the “Bubba vote.” Bubba is a Southern nickname derived from baby talk for Brother . It originally referred to the basic red-necked “good ol’ boy.”

Modern bubbas may be college-educated and may be found north of the Mason-Dixon Line. They are also conservative voters who began shifting into the Republican column for Ronald Reagan, and Democrats want them back. Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton seems to have laid strongest claim to this breed of voter.

Speaking of Clinton, he has been cited as a prime example of the 1992 “policy wonk,” a candidate who tends to answer simple questions with long-winded policy speeches.

Ask them about anything--jobs, education, defense, tax policy--and you get a nonstop litany that makes census statistics seem fascinating.

If the offender is from the North--say, Clinton rival Paul E. Tsongas of Massachusetts--the epithet might be “policy nerd.”

“Pander bear?” That’s Tsongas’ term for Clinton, whom he accuses of pandering to any interest to get votes.

“Brie and Volvo set” is the Clinton campaign’s derisive term for Tsongas and his backers. It’s supposed to paint them as pampered, pro-business suburbanites and not real Democrats.

“Santa Claus” is what Tsongas says he isn’t when he rejects calls for a middle-class tax cut. (“I’m not Santa Claus.”)

“Grinch” is what Clinton calls Tsongas for rejecting calls for a middle-income tax cut.

“Tough but tender” is an oxymoron coined by a Tsongas backer.

“New American Mandate” and “A Call To Economic Arms” are Tsongas’ labels for his business-oriented economic policy.

“New Covenant” is what Clinton calls his economic plan.

“Flat Tax”--Former California Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown proposes replacing the income tax code with a uniform tax rate of 13% for everyone.

“Waiting for the next high-heel to drop” was a snide allusion to the fact that Clinton has been dogged by rumors of infidelity.

Brown is “Governor Moonbeam”--an image left over from his days as California governor, which he cannot seem to shake.

“Electability” is the “E-word” of the Democratic campaign. Who is electable? Who isn’t? Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey used to say he was the only electable Democrat--before he dropped out of the running.

“King George.” History buffs will remember him as President Bush, but right-wing rival Patrick J. Buchanan is having a lot of fun with this nickname.

“Buchanan Brigade” is Buchanan’s campaign volunteers.

“Forgotten Middle Class” seems to include almost every voter, in the view of all this year’s solicitous candidates.

“Stoli.” Shhh! This is Bush’s campaign drink on the road, according to waiters who said they served him martinis in Oklahoma City and Pensacola, Fla. “Stoli” is Stolichnaya Vodka. It comes from Russia and not likely to win Bush any bubba votes.

“Lazy bastards” was White House press spokesman Marlin Fitzwater’s term for reporters who criticize Bush without leaving the safety of the press room. Reporters told Fitzwater he was right, but they resented being called “lazy.”

At the end of an arduous campaign trip with Bush recently, those “lazy b’s” in the press plane got a little rambunctious, as reporters will at the end of a long trip.

Their stories filed, the boys and girls of the Fourth Estate engaged in a pillow fight.

With figurative feathers flying, there were chants of “Four More Beers! Four More Beers!”

A Bush aide shouted: “You have finally seen the light!”