Dole Fails to Grab MTV Generation

If Bob Dole was reaching out to young people when he appeared before a throng of teenagers at Chaminade College Preparatory High School here Wednesday, he missed the mark with many in the audience.

Most of the Republican presidential candidate’s anti-drug message spoke to the students’ parents, some of whom packed into the school auditorium to hear Dole speak during his second visit to the San Fernando Valley this year.

“I think at times [he] was looking for a sound bite,” sophomore Lily Mahdavi, 15, said of Dole’s speech. “He seemed to speak to people more like our parents. . .”

Dole’s appearance at the private west San Fernando Valley high school was another well-publicized attempt to gain popularity among young people, even if most in this group won’t be eligible to vote in November. He made a pointed effort early in his campaign to connect with the 18- to 24-year-old voting bloc when he visited a Dartmouth fraternity house in January and was interviewed on MTV.

But the issue of Dole’s age became embarrassingly apparent at the start of his speech when the 73-year-old candidate referred to the Los Angeles Dodgers as the Brooklyn Dodgers, where the team last played 38 years ago.

Dole likened his efforts between now and election day to Tuesday’s no-hitter by Dodger pitcher Hideo Nomo.

“I’m going to be like Nomo. I’m going to pitch a no-hitter from now until Nov. 5,” Dole said to a roaring cheer from the crowd.

And then: “The Brooklyn Dodgers had a no-hitter last night. I’m going to follow what Nomo did and we’re going to wipe them out between now and Nov. 5.”

A few giggles crept out among the students.

“I think the comment about the Brooklyn Dodgers dated him a little bit,” said 17-year-old Ryan Erlich, Chaminade’s student body president.

For some parents, Dole spoke clearly to their concerns for their children.

“When he was giving his speech he was speaking to us because he said things that were important and things I and other parents do think about,” said Virginia Erlich. She added that Dole reached the kids when “he became more real and relaxed and started talking to them.”

But Dole often referred to his predominantly teenage audience in the third person--rather than speaking to them directly--during a speech laced with criticism of the Clinton administration for its role in the war on drugs and of Hollywood for glamorizing drug use in films that attract young moviegoers. He pointed to “Pulp Fiction” and the recent movie “Trainspotting” which Dole said romanticized heroin use.

“Our popular culture owes a duty to the fragile world of children,” Dole told a crowd of more than 1,200 students, teachers, parents and politicians. “ . . . It is possible to entertain us without debasing us. Free expression does not require the destruction of our children’s character.”

For a few students, this recycled message of saying no to drugs, and Dole’s revamped slogan of “Just Don’t Do It” comes too late.

“A lot of things he talks about don’t really concern us like he thinks they do,” said freshman Kay Wright.

Kay, 13, said she and many of her classmates at Chaminade already are opposed to drugs and alcohol, so Dole’s “Just Don’t Do It” phrase--which he prompted students to repeat along with him--didn’t strike a chord with Kay.

For senior Ryan, however, Dole’s message to take responsibility for their lives and their future was well received.

“We need to start becoming a little more conscientious of what . . . the media is promoting. I think he was right about that,” said Ryan, who gave a rallying speech to his classmates before Dole’s arrival.

But the issue of Dole’s age still couldn’t elevate him to a presidential level for Ryan.

“I think he has a lot of difficulty reaching students and that’s partly because of his age,” Ryan said. “I see [President Clinton] more as a parent and Mr. Dole more as a grandparent and removed from our generation.”

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