IOP Hosts Campaign Aides

Campaign aides to each major presidential candidate, from Babbitt to Biden to Bush, descended on the Kennedy School this weekend to discuss the tempo and tenor of the 1988 campaign.

The conference featured the first face-to-face meeting between aides to Gov. Michael S. Dukakis and President-elect George Bush, along with the comments of aides to the other campaigns. The Institute of Politics (IOP), which has sponsored these meetings every election year since 1972, plans to publish the discussions in book form.

Although the conference was not designed to reach a conclusion about the just-completed presidential election, organizers said the advisers arrived at a near consensus on abuses they thought needed to be addressed before the 1992 race begins.

"There was broad agreement for some change in the political process," said David Runkel, the deputy director of the IOP.

Runkel said that the bevy of at least 20 advisers seemed particularly concerned with reforming the rules governing campaign finance and organization and negative advertising.

In addition, many of those in attendance wanted to improve the way the press covers the campaign. There were also a half-dozen journalists in attendance.

Runkel noted that there was "strong resentment about ads run by both sides," saying there was particular concern about commercials that discussed Massachusetts' controversial furlough program and equivalent federal programs.

Participants discussed using federal matching funds to enforce a standard during the campaign about political advertisements and require participation in debates, Runkel said.

One proposal was that federally licensed television stations should provide candidates with free air time. Runkel said that some participants objected to these ideas on constitutional grounds.

However, Roger Ailes, Bush's campaign media consultant who is generally credited with the vice president's comeback in the summer, said that he saw no serious problems with the campaign.

Speaking of possible restrictions on campaign techniques, Ailes said, "If you're going to start censorship, let's start with child pornography, not political campaigns.

"Americans are a very independent people," and they don't want to see other people change their political campaigns for them, he said.

Ailes said that he found the conference "veryenlightening and very useful." "It speaks to whatAmerica is all about," he said, adding that herealized that "if a foreign power got out of hand,we could all work together."

Susan Estrich, Dukakis' campaign manager andtenured professor at the Law School, would notcomment about the campaign or the conference, butshe did say that she plans to return to the LawSchool this spring to teach. Estrich said sheplans to offer courses in criminal law andelection law.

E.J. Dionne '73, a political correspondent forThe New York Times who like other journalists inattendance acted as a moderator during theconference, said that an "issues vacuum"contributed to the perception that the pastcampaign was overly negative.

"The campaign looked so negative because nofundamental issues were dividing the country,"Dionne said. "So little seemed at stake in thewar, so people dwelt on the methods of warfare.