Word: dukakises
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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"Governor Dukakis took the high road on this campaign initially, that we would not get caught up in a mudslinging campaign," says Christopher Georges '86, who works on the Democratic contender's issues staff. "It didn't work." Georges says he has watched policy questions and issues gradually lose ground...
Kennedy School Lecturer Martin Linsky, whose research has focused on campaigns and the media, similarly criticizes Dukakis for being "slow to react to data that he doesn't consider serious, or credible. [This] creates a problem."
Those who agree that image--typified by Bush speaking at a flag factory or Dukakis riding a tank--has overwhelmed the real policy questions, blame a number of factors.
Mark Schlesinger, assistant director of the Center for Health and Human Resources Policy at the Kennedy School and a health policy adviser to Dukakis, says that both candidates' fears of the budget deficit and the voters' unwillingness to pay higher taxes have led to "borderline deceptive" proposals.
Schlesinger points to proposals for the 37 million Americans without health insurance as examples. Bush has suggested allowing people to buy into medicaid, offering a $200 million subsidy, while Schlesinger estimates that $20 billion would be needed. Dukakis has proposed a bill requiring employers to offer health insurance as a...