Al Gore would be wise to follow the campaign model of that other vice president -- George Bush

By Bill Schneider/CNN

May 31, 2000
Web posted at: 5:26 p.m. EDT (2126 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- It's the spring of an election year, and Vice President Al Gore is the underdog. He's searching for the magic formula that will turn the campaign around.

Vice President George Bush found it in 1988. Will the same formula work for Gore in 2000?

When was it exactly in 1988 that Bush turned things around? In May and June, Democrat Michael Dukakis had a solid lead over Bush.

After the Democratic convention, Dukakis widened his lead to 17 points. Then in August, the Republicans held their convention in New Orleans. Remember the moment when, on August 16th on a Mississippi riverboat, Bush picked a little-known senator from Indiana named Dan Quayle as his running mate?

At the time, the convention was widely regarded as a disaster for Bush and the GOP. The Quayle frenzy had stepped on the party's message. But guess what? The press missed the story.

It was during that so-called disastrous convention that Bush started to pull ahead for the first time. And he stayed ahead for the rest of the campaign. What exactly did the Republicans do at that convention to change the dynamic of the campaign?

The voters wanted two things in 1988: continuity of policy and change of leadership. The same two things they want this year.

In 1988, Republicans brought President Ronald Reagan in on the first night of the convention to make a call for continuity. "But George, just one personal request: Go out there and win one for the Gipper!" Reagan said. Then they quickly got him off stage.

Bill Clinton, too, is a damaged President. Advice to Gore: get him in and out fast.

In 1988, Dukakis pretended to offer continuity. "This election is not about ideology, it's about competence," he said.

The Republicans made short work of that: "There are those who say there isn't much of a difference this year," Bush said. "But America, don't let'em fool you."

They used the convention to accelerate a relentless attack on Dukakis's ideology.

"Should public school teachers be required to lead our children in the pledge of allegiance? My opponent says no -- and I say yes," Bush railed. "Should society be allowed to impose the death penalty on those who commit crimes of extraordinary cruelty and violence? My opponent says no -- but I say yes.''

Advice to Gore: expose the ideological agenda behind "compassionate conservatism.''

In 1988, Bush used his convention speech to send the message that he was his own man. "I don't hate government. I envision a kinder, gentler nation like a thousand points of light in a broad and peaceful sky."

Advice to Gore: make this the defining speech of your career, where you show you're your own man.

In 1988, voters had trouble seeing the vice president as a strong leader. Bush turned that perception around at the convention. He stood by his man Quayle, saying: "I've listened to his peers and the accolades from the senators with whom he serves speak eloquently of Dan Quayle's standing to be one heartbeat away from the presidency."

And he sounded like a leader: "The congress will push me to raise taxes, and I'll say no, and they'll push, and I'll say no, and they'll push again. And i'll say to them, 'read my lips, no new taxes!'''

Advice to Gore: the convention is your best, perhaps your only, opportunity to show you're a leader. Don't wimp out, like you did on Elian Gonzalez. Show the voters who the real son of a Bush is in this campaign.