Word: pledgees
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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The Bush campaign has seized on Dukakis' veto of a 1977 Massachusetts bill requiring teachers to lead their classes in the Pledge of Allegiance to paint the Governor as a dangerous liberal whose concern for civil liberties would undermine American patriotism. "Should public-school teachers be required to lead our...
Dukakis, whose campaign stops also feature generous reliance on the Stars and Stripes, responds that patriotism means respect for the law rather than ritual. "I can't imagine a President of the United States who knows that a bill is unconstitutional and proceeds to sign it anyway," he declared last...
The Pledge of Allegiance issue is the product of Bush's opposition research team. In 1977, during Dukakis' first term as Governor, the Massachusetts legislature passed a bill requiring teachers to lead their classes in the pledge each day. Following standard state practice, Dukakis sought an advisory ruling on the...
Dukakis' veto was overridden by large margins in the legislature, but the state attorney general ruled that the law was "unenforceable." As in most states, the pledge is still recited in Massachusetts elementary schools on a voluntary basis. "Of course, the pledge is taken all the time in Massachusetts," Dukakis...
Bush professes not to buy Dukakis' explanation for his veto. "Let's face it," the Vice President said to a cheering crowd in Los Angeles, "my opponent was looking for a reason not to sign that bill. I would be looking for a reason to sign that legislation." Bush implied...