Bush Bites Back

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The Kansas Senator's stump speech is an artful example of invective by indirection. Dole frequently boasts, "I can work with the Congress." (In contrast to guess who?) "I helped save the Social Security system in 1983." (Where was Bush?) "I played a leading role in cutting taxes in 1981." (Bush was on the sidelines.) "I've got a record, not a resume." (Point made.)

But Bush was acting like a candidate whose New Year's resolution was never to turn the other cheek. "I'm not sure that being in Congress all your life is part of the answer," Bush said in Washington. "I think it may be part of the problem." His message to Dole: "So tell him to get off my back. He's just begun to see the Silkworms coming across his bow."

The Vice President launched a sneaky missile in the debate when he challenged his rivals to release their tax returns. Dole was the target; Bush aides estimate he and his wife Elizabeth had combined 1986 incomes of close to $600,000. If true, this figure might undercut Dole's pleas to Iowa voters to regard him as "one of us."

Far more potent, though, is the controversy over Bush's Iran-contra role. It provides a rare window on how the Vice President performs when he is close to the Oval Office. Before the debate, a few Bush strategists were arguing with little success that the Vice President should offer a public apology. The , failure of any Republican to press the issue during the Friday night debate renewed hopes that he might ride out the storm. But if Bush is the nominee, it is an issue the Democrats are sure to revive in the fall.

CHART: TEXT NOT AVAILABLE

CREDIT: TIME Chart by Joe Lertola

CAPTION: Who is your first choice as the Republican presidential candidate?

DESCRIPTION: strength of George Bush and Robert Dole among likely Republican voters nationwide and in Iowa. Color illustration: Red and purple elephants in tug of war.