EPILOGUE: PORTLAND, OREGONPRESIDENT’S DAY Itried to help in the Oregon primary, but it was a problem. There was a skeleton crew working only at cruising speed, and they didn’t need many volunteers. Dukakis was way ahead of Jesse Jackson and George Bush in the polls. The insanity level had fluttered back to ten. My invitation to be a photographer at a $500/person fundraiser had been withdrawn. Instead, I was Kitty Dukakis’ photo man. Kitty had been toned way down. The campaign and the American public had channeled her into the classic groove—the Good First Wife. I was one of the 300 standing in the VIP section of the Dukakis rally at the Coliseum. Dukakis had Secret Service coverage now. His audience was larger than any in Iowa, except for the candidate’s debate. The crowd was bathed in the TV crews' brilliant white light. As Dukakis gave his speech, I found my lips moving in cadence with his. Parts of his stump speech had embedded themselves in my unconscious. I had turned my apartment over to my former colleagues, the Dukakis kids. They thought they had died and gone to heaven. I walked away, my girlfriend on my arm. I had a pretty good idea of what life would be like in a Dukakis presidency. The country would be in good hands. OPTIONAL ENDING A: NOVEMBER 9TH DUKAKIS WINS!! By a miracle it happened. After eight years of Reaganism, it was time fora change. New administrations confer huge amounts of power on very obscure people. How else can a graduate student get a first job as Underassistant Secretary of State for Oceanic Affairs? A professor I know is trying to be National Security Advisor. The Boston campaign manager is up for Attorney General. I’ ll be pleased with a mid-level job in Housing and Urban Development or the Health Care Financing Administration. Dukakis kids will fill jobs like that, and they have more intelligence, dedication and political vision than you know. They are not your Yuppie Scum or Lost Generation of the 80’s types. Probably % of them have degrees in government or political science. An incredibly high percentage specialized in Latin America, Africa, or the Soviet Union. This administration will bring us nothing radical except something resembling national health care. President Dukakis will be as conservative as I can stand, but he will open the door to people dispossessed by Reaganism. That’s all that really counts. Hopefully, a Dukakis administration can pave the way for a more progressive Democrat down the line. There are six different levels of inaugural celebration, ranging down from an intimate White House dinner with the President. My invitation will be to the big party where Lenny Moskowitz plays the accordion and his brother Larry plays drums. There’s the olive pit spitting contest and the starched bowling shirts too, but I digress. OPTIONAL ENDING D: NOVEMBER 9IH DUKAKIS LOSES Back in Iowa we were nice to the George Bush people. Bob Dole was the one we were concerned about. It was assumed that if the Republicans nominated George Bush, they were engaged in a death wish. But we all know that fate plays cruel tricks. For insights into why Bush won, I suggest that you tune in TV to see what the great minds of the media have to say. Right now my disgust level is reasonably high. Yes, Dukakis is boring. Yes, he had bad ads. Yes, Boston held control too tightly. Modern America, I contend, demands that its chief executives have a modicum of silliness. George Bush beats the Duke hands down in that category. George will follow the footsteps of other great silly presidents we’ve had in the last 15 years—the paranoid Nixon; the bumbling Ford; Carter and his killer rabbits; and the best for last, Ronald Reagan. My best insight to the Bush victory is to suggest you read a history book called The Politicos by Matthew Josephson. You’ ll read about political assassina- tior^s; a divisive war that splits the country; the near impeachment of a president; almost total Republican domination of the White House; short periods of two- tiered prosperity interspersed with “ recessions” ; a national obsession with high technology industries that create jobs; and a Congress bought and sold by special interests. No, I’m not talking about post-JFK America. Josephson’s book covers the United States from 1865 to 1900. Uncannily, 19th Century history reads as if current events were placed into a Waring Blender. We haven’t yet had the intensification of class struggle. That is likely the next wave. 1989 could be a lot like 1889, and we could expect more of the same until the year 2000. Morton Downey, Jr. will keep you informed on future issues. Writer Karl Eysenbach is temporarily settled in Portland. This is his first story in CSQ. THE Designer Eyewear for All Occasions VISA I Mastercard Repairs 24-hour Service Prescriptions filled promptly Lenses duplicated Custom tinting & fitting 709 Broadway East Capitol Hill 328-4386 12 Clinton St. Quarterly—Fall/Winter 1988 COMET TAVERN 922 E. PIKE
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