Dukakis, Bentsen Rapport Fails to Ignite

TEXARKANA, Tex. —  Either Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen won’t be on the Democratic presidential ticket or he and Michael S. Dukakis will share an Academy Award for acting after their performance here Friday.

Although Bentsen made a generous introduction of the Massachusetts governor at a campaign stop, there was none of the warm, playful interaction between the two that characterized Dukakis’ recent appearances with Ohio Sen. John Glenn and Indiana Rep. Lee H. Hamilton.

Audience Not Polled

Dukakis did not poll the audience as he had with Glenn and Hamilton, and he made a special point of describing the importance in the Senate of Bentsen, particularly in passing welfare reform.

“He could provide good service in lots of places,” Dukakis said of Bentsen, who is up for reelection this fall. “But I want to reiterate what I said. I don’t remember a year when a United States senator has done as much as this man has done. . . . His leadership is critical on these issues.”

Bentsen is one of the Democrats who Dukakis has been seriously considering as a running mate, but when asked if he wanted him to remain in the Senate, Dukakis said: “I’m pondering.”

And when Bentsen was asked if he wanted to be vice president, he responded: “I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that.”

Not that Bentsen did not have a champion by his side--Arkansas Sen. Dale Bumpers told reporters Dukakis pretty much has to choose Bentsen if he wants to win the presidency because of Texas’ 29 electoral votes.

“The dynamics of this thing have changed so much,” Bumpers said, referring to the shift of electoral votes from the Northeast and Midwest to the South and West. “Jack Kennedy won by 85 electoral votes, but if Michael Dukakis carried the same states he’d win by five votes.

“So they have to look at all that, and in my opinion they have to look at it the same way Jack Kennedy did (when John F. Kennedy picked Texas Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson as his running mate in 1960). You have to carry Texas.”

Bumpers added: “If one of these people (potential running mates) was from California you’d have resolved this a long time ago.”

Many strategists believe Dukakis cannot win without California, since Vice President George Bush, a Texas transplant, is expected to carry his state.

Before flying to Los Angeles, where he attended the Dodger-Pirate game at Dodger Stadium on Friday night, Dukakis said in an interview that “an important criterion (for vice president) is whether or not the person you select brings a different background, different experience, different strength. I don’t want a clone of Mike Dukakis.

“Now that could mean a lot of things. . . . Look, any of these folks are people I can feel comfortable with.”

Dukakis also said he had concluded that he will have to match Bush’s negative attacks on him and that the country is in for a nasty presidential election.

“Yes, it’s unfortunate. But as I did in the primary, you give fair warning, you try to keep it positive but if (attacks) continue you gotta respond.”

Visibly Irritated

Bush’s recent attempt to paint Dukakis as a cultural liberal have clearly stung. Not only is Dukakis expanding his efforts to portray himself as a believer in “American family values,” he grew visibly irritated when a reporter asked about the cultural liberal label Friday.

“I don’t know what you mean by cultural liberal,” Dukakis snapped. “Crime? I’ve got a record. Bush’s record on crime and drugs is pathetic.”