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From: kaufman@uiucdcs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: VP Vice:  VP <> Prez - (nf)
Message-ID: <36200146@uiucdcs.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 24-Aug-84 15:14:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: uiucdcs.36200146
Posted: Fri Aug 24 15:14:00 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 29-Aug-84 05:21:25 EDT
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Nf-ID: #N:uiucdcs:36200146:000:2284
Nf-From: uiucdcs!kaufman    Aug 24 14:14:00 1984

#N:uiucdcs:36200146:000:2284
uiucdcs!kaufman    Aug 24 14:14:00 1984

[This line will self-destruct in 5 seconds ... Good luck, Jim!]

     As far as I can tell from what I've seen of the Republican Convention,
the most popular GOP attack on Mondale stems from the fact that he was Jimmy
Carter's Vice President.  The implication is that a vote for Mondale is a
vote for Carter.  Little do these Republicans remember their own recent
history.
     You see, a long time ago in a Galaxy far away, a man named Reagan
outprimaried such opponents as Howard Baker, John Anderson, and one George
Bush.  Bush was the runner up in the delegate sweepstakes, and until he pulled
out sometime in late spring, he ran quite a heated campaign against the
eventual President, differing on almost every issue.  Bush took more the
standard conservative path, while many of Reagan's proposals were radical
enough to woo the right wing of the Party.  Then the bombshell at the convention
when Reagan finally announced Bush would be his running mate, and suddenly,
there the two of them were on the platform.  Just as suddenly, there had never
been any differences between the two.  Bush agreed with Reagan all the way.
     My reaction then was: Bullshit.  My reaction now is: Politics.  (You see,
my opinions haven't changed at all in four years :-)  It is a sad but true fact
that Vice Presidents (and candidates for that post) have to follow the lead of
their running mates in order not to rock the boat.  Despite his spoken support,
I seriously doubt Bush would continue a lot of Reagan programs should he become
President in 1988.  The same holds true for the Democrats.
     I am sure that Mondale would eliminate quite a bit of the policy from the
Carter administration.  Millions and millions of Americans could probably
handle the economy better than J.C. did.  I tend to believe that Mondale is
one of them (as Reagan probably is too).  But it is NOT a one issue campaign.
And if the worst thing the Republicans can say about Mondale is that he VPed
for Carter, I may have to vote for him.  Hopefully, GOP leaders will quit this
smear campaign, address the issues, and let the people decide, rather than
taking the easy way out and trying to delude them.

Maybe I'll just vote for Bill the Cat; Opus hasn't had to compromise himself.
Ken Kaufman (uiucdcs!kaufman)