Dole Charged With an Error on Heels of Dodger No-Hitter

Political candidates live in fear of the slip of the tongue--George Bush misstating the date of Pearl Harbor, Dan Quayle’s “potatoe” misspelling, Bill Clinton answering a question about whether he wears boxers or briefs--little things that stick in voters’ minds.

Like the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Yes, Brooklyn.

“The Brooklyn Dodgers had a no-hitter last night,” Bob Dole said Wednesday morning during a speech at Chaminade High School in West Hills. “I’m going to follow what Nomo did and we’re going to wipe them out between now and Nov. 5.”

Dole’s press secretary, Nelson Warfield, hurried to reporters to insist that the 73-year-old candidate, who lived in Brooklyn while in the Army in the 1940s, was deliberately joking--”just using the well-known Dole wit.”

If so, the joke was lost on many in his audience, some of whose parents were not yet born when the Dodgers left Ebbets Field in 1958.

Chaminade student body President Ryan Erlich said Dole clearly dated himself with the remark.

“I see [President Clinton] more as a parent and Mr. Dole more as a grandparent and removed from our generation,” said Erlich, 17.

Democrats were quick to take advantage. When Dole reached Chico later in the day, he was greeted with signs saying: “Welcome to Brooklyn, Bob.”