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This point is echoed by mid-level officials at the White House and Bush campaign headquarters. They are worried that the President and several of his top advisers -- campaign manager Robert Teeter, White House chief of staff Sam Skinner, Treasury Secretary Nick Brady -- are far too confident that in the end, all that matters is "presidential stature." Teeter explains that in "the last weeks of the campaign, the voters will look at the candidates on a different basis than they do now: on who has the temperament, judgment, experience and character to serve as President. We're very confident of that -- confident enough to base our entire campaign on it."
Thus, when the White House decided to send a top official to St. Louis last week to counter the Clinton-Gore bus tour, it assigned presidential adviser Clayton Yeutter, who emphasized that "Clinton does not have one-tenth the stature that the President has all over the world. The American people are going to wake up and realize this."
For his part, Bush urges Republicans not to panic, reminding them that he was 17 points behind Dukakis at this juncture in 1988. One difference, however, is that Bush in 1988 could run on the rosy-looking Reagan economic record. Another difference, says a veteran of the 1988 campaign, was that "at least we had 'no new taxes' " as a central, positive appeal. This time there is a vacuum at the heart of the Bush campaign and Administration. That is what allows Clinton and Gore to dominate the television news and set the political agenda, at least for now. It is also the main reason why so many Republicans, unable to persuade Bush to aggressively address the problems of the economy, are seeking a scapegoat in Dan Quayle.