1988 Ad

DARK-HORSING AROUND PROJECT '88, a mysterious Republican political-action committee set up last year, has become one of the chief delights of Washington rumor mongers. The people running Project '88 deny that it is a vehicle for any presidential candidate, which, Washington being Washington, no one here believes. Some political observers have suggested it is an anyone-but-Bush effort; others claim it is pro-Bush. It has been called, as well, a front for just about every conceivable Republican candidate, including Jack Kemp, Phil Crane, Pat Robertson, Lew Lehrman, Paul Laxalt, Howard Baker, and pick-a-Dole.

The anyone-but-Bush rumors may have been inspired by the group's stated purpose. The 1988 campaign is threatening to start even earlier than the 1984 campaign did; Project '88's official goal is to lobby at the grass roots to keep national attention focused on the unfinished Reagan agenda rather than on the ambitions of the candidates. But since Bush's strategy, like Mondale's, is to lock the race up early by sheer organizational supremacy, some in cynical Washington interpret any attempt to push back the start of the race as an anti-Bush move.

The stop-Bush theory was confounded, however, when the Vice President appeared at Project '88's first major fundraising event, the now famous testimonial dinner for William Loeb, the late publisher of the Manchester (New Hampshire) Union Leader. That was the dinner at which Bush, who had been savaged by the Union Leader during the 1980 primary season, heaped praise on Loeb's memory, prompting a number of commentators to question Bush's character.

A related theory was that Project '88 was really the creature of New Hampshire Republicans who wanted to keep the campaign from starting too early not because they opposed Bush, but not because they opposed Bush, but because they did not want to see the New Hampshire primary's considerable influence in presidential politics diluted by other contests starting even earlier. The evidence for this theory was that Max Hugel and David Carmen, both longtime New Hampshire activists, were among Project '88's early principals, with founder Hugel serving as chairman. That theory was blown by the group's organizing efforts in 15 states and its success in signing up a number powerful conservative politicos as state chairmen.

Because David Carmen had served formerly with Citizens for America, the pro-Reagan grass-roots lobby headed by Lew Lehrman, Carmen's involvement in Project '88 also led to speculation that the group was really a Lehrman vehicle. But the Lehrman theorists had to defend themselves from the Laxalt theorists, who pointed out that Michelle Laxalt, the senator's daughter, was a Project '88 consultant. (She eventually resigned.) Politics fans found similar wisps of evidence of relationships between Project '88 and nearly every other potential candidate.

The truth, it now appears, is that Project '88 is what it claims to be, an organization sincerely dedicated to keeping Republican energy focused on the issues. But, as the organizers of Project '88 certainly know, such a focus does have political implications. Slowing the momentum of early presidental campaigning might indeed keep Vice President Bush from rendering the contest moot; but it might, as well, keep any single alternative candidate, such as Representative Jack Kemp, from uniting the "movement" conservatives early. Some conservatives here who oppose Bush, and see Kemp as the only real alternative, argue that hesitation is dangerous. Others, however, argue that unlike 197 6 and 1980, it is not at all clear at this point who is the natural movement candidate, either politically or ideologically. Under the circumstances, they argue, the best course is to press the issues and watch how well the potential candidates serve conservative goals, waiting for a real movement leader to emerge rather than risking too much, too early, on an unproven candidate. In this scenario, the Vice President himself would have more time to prove himself as a conservative leader.

COPYRIGHT 1986 National Review, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning