Mullings by Rich Galen | Issue for October 22, 1999

October 22, 1999 Volume 11, Number 66

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L = mvr

My very favorite law of physics is the Law of Conservation of Angular Momentum expressed by the formula: L = mvr. Momentum (in the universe in which almost all of us reside) is always conserved.
It is the reason planets stay in orbit and spin on their axes, and the reason ice skaters spin faster when they move their arms close to their bodies.
The Elizabeth Dole campaign violated the Law of Conservation of Angular Momentum - not once, but twice. The first time was when she had all that momentum coming out of her job heading up the Red Cross; the second was when she surprised everyone - including herself - by coming in a strong third in the Iowa Straw Poll in August.
Both times, in clear violation of a basic law of physics, Dole allowed her momentum to simply slip away. No heat. No light. And, after spokesman Ari Fleischer left, no spin. Wednesday, she paid the price. She had to leave the race for President.
Dole blamed money - Steve Forbes' and George W's - for her woes. Her statement that "the current political calendar and election laws favor those who get an early start and can tap into huge private fortunes or who have a pre-existing network of political supporters," was modestly disingenuous in that she is the spouse of a man who ran for President more-or-less constantly from 1976 to 1996.
There is a reason Iowa and New Hampshire have retained their importance in American Presidential politics: A candidate does not need a fortune to make a case in those states. Dole's third-place finish in Iowa cost her campaign some $250,000 - about half what Pat Buchanan supposedly spent to come in fifth. In New Hampshire not only CAN a candidate meet everyone, everyone demands to be met!
Here's the good news: Elizabeth Dole's campaign had to end not because it was the flawed campaign of a woman, but because it was a flawed campaign. Period. Dole has expanded the envelope for the next woman, and the next, and all who will surely follow.
Elizabeth Dole is a larger personality in American politics today, even having closed her campaign, than she was though two Cabinet jobs, the Red Cross, and as Bob Dole's wife.
John Kasich, likewise, has emerged stronger politically having run for President than he ever was as the chairman of the "Powerful House Budget Committee."
If you believed the New York Times on Thursday, George W has been all but forced out of the race by the Dole announcement. One analyst had him being almost crippled by McCain for the moderate vote. Another had him suffering at the hands of Forbes for the conservative vote. I am in Austin this morning looking to see if there is some cheap office furniture for sale at the Bush headquarters.
I believe pollster Ed Goeas had it right: When you are getting 60 percent of the vote, you are getting support from nearly every segment of the voting population. If only three-out-of-five of Dole supporters go to Bush that's still - 60 percent.
Off-the-point question: If professional football is so dominant in our society, and major league baseball is so passé, why did ESPN change its Sunday night game to Thursday night?

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