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Date:         Fri, 21 Aug 1992 10:30:43 -0500
From:         ANTHLAL@UMNACVX.BITNET
Subject:      separated at birth?

...george w. bush and pat robertson?
...dan rather and bob dole?

stranger things have happened.  the speeches (as such) last night were, well,
uninspired, to my mind.  that ain't sayin' much, as moss and stephenson will
be sure to point out.  :-)  george bush is "the leader of the free world"
and can't find someone in this country to write him a real barn-burner of
a speech?  i guess no british politicians have been writing anything much
to crib out of lately.  i thought dan quayle was (surprise, surprise) reading
a puff piece out of the national review.  what exactly did the guy say?  did
he talk about the economy?  (no.)  did he talk about foreign policy?  (no.)
did he, in short, say anything of interest?  (no.)  the only reason i kept
the tv on was to see if he would make some colossal error, some truly
inspired malapropism, spoonerism, goldwynism, or some such thing.  no dice.

george was okay, but not as fantastic as he needed to be.  i think we'll see
the polls say that he's in the race, now.  i think steve's (was it steve's?)
strategy about telling the world that clinton's policy has been enacted would
have done him some real good.  just goes to show you...always read your
e-mail before you go on stage.  i did think for a minute or two that i was
watching the toastmaster's convention.  nice use of jokes, george.  one
question though...why are you laughing and smiling but your eyes are not?

bush certainly reached out to his alienated core voters last night, and
probably made fantastic strides in that arena.  my mom, who in moments of
dire extremity has been heard to utter a faint "damn" was apparently
screaming "give 'em hell, george" at the tv.  (source:  merribeth lorson,
age 16, wearer of black clothing, supporter of dave barry, fan of
depeche mode, 20 aug 92).  speaking of arenas, does anyone out there really
think that george bush actually *watches* "american gladiators"?  really,
his efforts to come up to speed with popular culture are touching, when
you stop to think about it.  next thing you know, we'll hear him reference
bill, hillary, and "studs".  i don't know, i just get the same sort of
feeling hearing popular culture references coming out of george's mouth
that i do when my dad starts singing along with "smells like teen spirit"
on the radio...a little disoriented, a little pleased, a little nauseous
trying not to laugh and make him feel real bad.

bottom line:  bush's support will grow until the polls show him maybe
5 points back on election day.  then, the jamie dreier principle will
take over:  if the economy is good on that particular day, bush will win.
if it's not, he won't.  end of story.  sad but true.  order before
midnight tonight and receive these amazing ginsu (tm) steak knives.

jon hall, if you are still reading this, i must tell you that i am
really, really just speechless with disbelief.

                                       ---anneliese
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