Word: babbittism
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...rampant among Democratic voters. Perhaps because all the other Democratic candidates have been diminished by endless TV debates and their uninspired campaigning, they seem to have surprisingly high unfavorable ratings. Dukakis and Paul Simon are the only two with relatively low negatives; Richard Gephardt, Albert Gore and Bruce Babbitt now have unfavorable ratings that are higher than their favorable ones, a marked shift from previous polls. The survey showed that 41% wanted Mario Cuomo to get in the race and 31% wanted Bill Bradley...
Some of Hart's rivals joined the chorus once they discovered that this lone crusader was a relatively safe target. The best and earliest lines belonged to Babbitt. "I think everybody is entitled to a comeback try," he cracked. "But in Gary's case, I don't know if the comparison is to Sugar Ray Leonard or Jim and Tammy Bakker. If this weren't so serious, it would be funny. If it weren't so funny, it would be serious...
...snickers, as Babbitt pointed out, Hart's re-entry is not really a laughing matter: it helps neither the Democratic Party nor the country to < turn the critical process of selecting a President into something that begins to resemble a circus. Hart's action was a symptom of the problems faced by his party. "He appears to symbolize the failure of the established field to catch fire," says William Galston, a 1984 adviser to Walter Mondale. Hart's comeback crusade threatens to become a cause of further disarray. As Peter Hart (no relation), a Democratic pollster, says, "It's destabilizing...
Paul Simon's earlobes are too big, and his droning voice doesn't match the sprightly bow tie. Bruce Babbitt has trouble working up a convincing smile. Pete du Pont comes across as an eager accountant, and Al Gore could fit comfortably into the cast of Dynasty. All of them, however, could take a few lessons in TV communication skills from the Soviet Union's new media star, Mikhail Gorbachev...
...next mentor was Avant-Garde Composer Milton Babbitt. Sondheim, straight out of Williams, talked Babbitt into taking him on as a private pupil in structure and theory. He paid with money from a fellowship and stretched the funds by living in bohemian disorder in his father's dining room. Next he tried to break into show business. A few painful years of struggle -- scraping up auditions that led to more auditions, writing and rewriting a show that never got staged because the producer died, going out to Hollywood to write scripts for the TV sitcom Topper -- ended in triumph when...