The Republicans "He's Pretty Much a Blank Slate"

By Michael Riley, Michael Dukakis

En route from Richmond to Jacksonville last Friday, Michael Dukakis spoke with TIME Correspondent Michael Riley about George Bush, the Republicans and the campaign. Excerpts:

Q. George Bush has accused you of advocating unilateral disarmament, of coming from the far-left fringe, of being a Stealth candidate, unheard on the issues.

A. That's campaign rhetoric and nothing else. I think it's coming from a campaign that's in disarray, that's getting desperate. I guess the theory is that if you don't have that much to say yourself, stick it to the other guy.

I surely don't think that's what the American people want to hear or what they're interested in. The first and most important thing a candidate has to do is to establish himself and what he stands for, what he believes in, what kind of person he is . . . The Vice President's fundamental problem is that people don't have any sense of what a Bush presidency would be like, and unless he changes that, he's going to lose.

Q. Explain what you meant when you said that George Bush's positions were not clear on much of anything.

A. I said that he was pretty much a blank slate, and I think that's true. Look at the fundamental issues that face this country: economic development, especially in distressed regions of the country, health care, housing, education, the environment. There's no definition. There are 38 million Americans without health insurance. What would a Bush Administration do about that? I don't think anybody has a clue.

Q. Can you give a defense to the constant Republican bashing of your inexperience in foreign policy?

A. I don't think it needs any defense. One of the reasons I'm running for the presidency is that I want to help to shape American foreign policy . . . I'm looking forward to debating foreign policy with the Vice President because I think he's extremely vulnerable in many ways: U.S.-Soviet relations, his response to issues like Iran-contra, Third World issues and the whole question of national security. Everybody knows that the defense budget in real terms isn't going to grow, no matter who the next President is. There's no way that we can build all these weapons systems and at the same time maintain a strong conventional capability. It's impossible.

Q. Are you planning to watch the Republican Convention?

A. No. I'm going to be too busy campaigning.

Q. What do you expect to come out of the convention?

A. More of the same. We've got a pretty good sense of what kind of campaign they are going to run. It's getting pretty shrill.

Q. What do you think of their campaign?

A. I don't take it lightly. The one thing I think is most encouraging is that there will be no part of this country, no state in this country, that the Republicans can assume is theirs. Not one.

Q. On a personal level, what is your opinion of George Bush?

A. I don't know him that well. I couldn't even begin to make a judgment, because there is so little definition to this man. I don't know that many people know him.

Q. Will you have any trouble sleeping if George Bush is elected in November?

A. ((long pause)) Well, I usually sleep pretty well.