COLUMN: Why Dole won't win the presidency

From Jamil Smith's, "Invisible Man," Fal '96 From Jamil Smith's, "Invisible Man," Fal '96 The moment of decision has come for former Senator Bob Dole and his running mate, former Buffalo Bill (and Housing and Urban Development Secretary) Jack Kemp. With the election a week away, Sunday's Gallup poll reported that the Republican ticket is approximately 20 points behind Democratic incumbent Bill Clinton. On October 24, Dole let loose a lot of that exasperation. Unfortunately for Dole, he unloaded it on the voters. USA Today reported that Dole sent out "a wake-up call all over America." He urged American voters not to "inflict this on America for four more years." "I wonder sometimes what people are thinking about, if people are thinking at all, if they've really watched this administration," Dole added. "Something is wrong in America." Indeed, something is wrong in America. However, it is Dole who needs to "wake up" and realize that the problem exists within his own mismanaged campaign, the party that now regrets nominating him, and the nonsensical "promises" he believes will win over the American public. One need not be a political strategist to understand what has and has not worked for presidential candidates in the past 20 years. Ronald Reagan's movie-star recognition and his vicious hatred for the Soviet Union worked when Jimmy Carter's Georgia grin didn't. George Bush's "Willie Horton" advertisements worked against Michael Dukakis's photo-op ride in a tank. But in 1992, when he tried to use the Persian Gulf War as a crutch, Bush failed. So into the palace at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue steps Bill Clinton, who will be on campus this afternoon. His record is not without tarnish -- I, for one, disagree wholeheartedly with his recent signing of the welfare reform bill. However, Clinton has been a fine president. In trying to defeat him, Dole has tried to twist the facts so that they read only one thing: "Bill Clinton is undeserving of a second term." Understand that Dole is not advocating that he should be president, but merely that Clinton shouldn't. In place of real ideas, Dole has submitted a proposal for a 15 percent tax cut. Rather than relying on his 35-year tenure on Capitol Hill, Dole decided to sic the morality police on his opponent. It was not certain whether Dole's actions were worthy of our disagreement or pity before October 24. But with the barrage Dole aimed directly at the American voter on that day, it has become evident that Dole has no idea what has been happening this fall. Since the beginning of the campaign, Clinton has remained, well, presidential. He has refrained from attacking Dole on his record -- which, contrary to his advocation of a tax cut, contains votes for tax hikes -- and has stuck to the issues at hand. While not all of Clinton's elaborations on the issues have met to the public's liking, especially on the issue of ethics, he has relied on his record and suggested attainable goals for the country in the next four years. Dole gave indications that he was crumbling earlier last week, when he asked Reform Party candidate Ross Perot to remove himself from the race and endorse the Republican ticket. Perot, who is running for the presidency for a second time, dismissed Dole's effort as "weird and totally inconsequential." Dole's feeble attempt to pick up the votes that Perot takes away from him is further evidence that the Dole/Kemp campaign has run out of ideas. The Republican party can't believe that, as New Hampshire GOP chairman John Stabile told USA Today, Dole would "leave anything in his holster" since this is his last chance to be elected to political office. Instead of releasing negative commercial after negative commercial, Dole should have made sure that the voters would think that Clinton was the unethical one, not he. Americans have grown tired of the negative campaigning -- we want to hear about what the candidates can do for us. Irrational and impossible tax cut proposals aren't doing the job. Dole's last stand should serve as a constant lesson to those aspiring to political office. Moreover, perhaps Dole's days as a college basketball player at Kansas should have taught him that if you are down by 20 with time running out in the fourth quarter, don't blame the booing and unfriendly crowd for your own shortcomings.