GOP Chief Calls Dukakis’ Effort ‘Most Mismanaged’

WASHINGTON — Gov. Michael S. Dukakis’ bid for the presidency has been undermined by “the most mismanaged campaign” in recent history and a flawed strategy of ignoring ideology, Republican National Chairman Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr. declared Tuesday.

Although it is too early for a post-mortem on an election that does not take place until next Tuesday, Fahrenkopf put his finger on two problems that some Democratic strategists here privately say has handicapped Dukakis’ chances.

Fahrenkopf said that if the campaign continues its present course and Vice President George Bush is elected, political scientists will later view as “a major political mistake” the Democrats’ plan to soft-pedal liberal issues in an effort to appeal to mainstream voters.

Early Decision

Long before the Democrats even knew who their presidential nominee would be, he said, they decided to run a campaign that would de-emphasize ideology and give short shrift to specific issues.

Fahrenkopf, interviewed at a Times Washington Bureau breakfast session, cited a quote from a speech last January by Democratic National Chairman Paul G. Kirk Jr.: “The country today is center right, but the Democratic Party is still controlled by left of center factions, and thus the party in 1988 will soft-pedal liberal issues from life-style factions in order to appeal to mainstream voters.”

The Democratic Party went on to adopt a platform that was short on specific issues and long on generalities, and Dukakis told the nominating convention that the election was not about ideology but rather about competence.

1984 Experience

Fahrenkopf said he believed that that was an overreaction to the Democrats’ experience in 1984, when they adopted a specific platform and nominee Walter F. Mondale, running as a liberal, was soundly beaten by President Reagan.

Fahrenkopf said Dukakis assigned inexperienced staffers to direct campaigns in some states where they had no political expertise and where local Democratic officials resented them. In New Mexico, he said, a top Dukakis campaign official had no idea that Latinos made up 30% of the state population.

“I think it will go down in history as the most mismanaged campaign in presidential history, at least recent presidential history,” he said.

Focus on 18 States

Although Fahrenkopf did not rule out the possibility that Dukakis could yet overtake Bush, he said the governor’s strategy has been reduced to concentrating on winning 18 states with 272 electoral votes--only two more than needed to be elected.

California’s 47 electoral votes--the most of any state--are still up for grabs, he said, and both candidates and their campaigns will be focusing on the state until the election.

The 49-year-old Fahrenkopf, a Washington lawyer who came here from Nevada where he was a Republican official, said he will urge Bush to select a new GOP chairman to succeed him as soon as possible after Tuesday’s election.

When Fahrenkopf’s term ends in January, he will have served as the GOP chairman for six years--longer than any other chairman in this century.