CAMPAIGN WATCH : It’s a Bargain

Advice offered for nothing, goes the old saw, is usually worth just that. But not always. Consider the analysis of President Bush’s reelection effort coming from former President Richard M. Nixon, who learned a few things about politics in his four successful--and one unsuccessful--national campaigns. Nixon has been privately discussing the Bush campaign with political associates, a sure if indirect way to get his thinking into the public arena. His advice, though unsolicited by the White House, ought not to go unheeded.

The essence of Nixon’s assessment is that Bush is in trouble, not least because he has let the radical right of the Republican Party set too much of the agenda while Bush himself has failed to provide a positive program. The polls support this view.

All that nebulous talk at the Republican convention and after about “family values,” about the non-appearance--to quote Bush--of “G-O-D” in the Democratic platform, about unyielding opposition to abortion may energize some of the faithful, but it’s turning off much of the broad, moderate middle of the electorate. Nixon’s advice, as relayed through those he has recently been meeting with, is for Bush to distance himself from the “fanatics” of the far right who see the election as a religious war and stop trying to get mileage out of themes that have no place in a presidential campaign to begin with.

In short, start talking about the real issues that are on the minds of voters in these troubled times. We think that’s pretty good advice in this or any other campaign, even if it comes free of charge.