(Page 2 of 2)

Voter Pendulum Swings Toward The Middle Road


By most accounts, Tuesday`s results did not augur well for the vice president. More than any other candidate, Bush depends on Reagan`s popularity, and what the elections demonstrated was that Reagan`s popularity helps only Reagan, even when he openly campaigns for others.

The President has vowed neutrality in the impending fight for the Republican nomination, so Bush will have to win it on his own.

There was not much encouragement for evangelist Pat Robertson, either. Most of the candidates he supported were beaten, and the few contenders who sought to make an issue of religious affiliation failed to get elected.

Rev. Jesse Jackson did find the results encouraging, pointing to the heavily Democratic black vote that helped four Southern Democrats beat Republican senators. Jackson said he would announce his presidential plans soon.

Another Democrat who had to be encouraged is Cuomo, who said he is not running for president, but who was re-elected governor by a bigger margin than such predecessors as Franklin Roosevelt and Grover Cleveland ever managed in New York. In the words of one New York politician, though, Cuomo ``won ugly,`` angering many Democrats with his refusal to debate and his lack of eagerness to help other Democrats in the state.

Two other governors who insist they are not candidates were overwhelmingly re-elected. One is Democrat Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts, who is so popular in neighboring New Hampshire that he could delay his candidacy until late next year and still hope to win the primary there.

The other is Republican James Thompson of Illinois, whose political associates are not shy about discussing his possible ee changes his mind.