Presidential Race Reflects a 'Profound Mood Swing' : Politics: Columnist George Will says country has gone from euphoria at end of Desert Storm to great national questioning.

Presidential Race Reflects a ‘Profound Mood Swing’ : Politics: Columnist George Will says country has gone from euphoria at end of Desert Storm to great national questioning.

By BILL BILLITER

May 29, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

IRVINE — Conservative columnist George F. Will said Thursday that this year’s presidential campaign reflects “the most profound mood swing that this republic has ever experienced--we’ve gone from the euphoria at the end of Desert Storm to a great national questioning.”

Will, the featured speaker at a dinner meeting of the Industrial League of Orange County, said during a press conference before his speech that this year’s presidential race also “is simply without precedent in American history.”

The nationally syndicated columnist said the three-way 1912 presidential race is the closest parallel to the 1992 campaign. But he noted that the third-party candidate in 1912 was Theodore Roosevelt, a former president with a known political background.

Will said that by contrast, the third major candidate in 1992 is Ross Perot, whose political positions are largely unknown.

What makes Perot appealing is not his strengths but “the weaknesses of the others,” Will said. “So far, the less people know about him, the more they like him. But sooner or later he’s going to have to say something, and you can’t say something in American politics without offending someone.”

Although Perot has yet to announce formally as a candidate, Will indicated his belief that the wealthy Texas businessman will compete against Republican President Bush and Democratic challenger Bill Clinton.

Asked to predict the winner in a three-way presidential race, Will said, “If I had to predict, I’d predict Bush.”

But Will made it clear he is no fan of the incumbent President.

“George Bush has been in government about 30 years, and he has almost no strong policy preferences about anything. He’s vague,” Will said. He also called Bush “vain” and “stubborn.”

In describing Democrat Clinton, Will said: “His views are not very exciting because they don’t represent the hard, liberal wing of his party. But his views are clear to a fault. He will bombard you to numbness with details.”

Will said Perot may be peaking in his popularity. “If history is anything to go by, and it may not be in this year, then Perot is at his peak right now,” he said.

But the columnist, who won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1977, said Perot could benefit by lack of criticism. “His advantage is that no one knows how to attack him,” he said.

Will spoke to about 400 people at the dinner session at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The Industrial League of Orange County describes itself as “an advocacy group of over 900 businesses which employ more than 150,000 persons locally.”

The league presented scholarships to three high school seniors who had taken part in league-sponsored essay and oral competition.

First place, and a $5,000 scholarship, went to Linda Chien of Irvine’s University High. The second-place $3,000 scholarship was awarded to Christopher McDonald of Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita. The third-place $2,000 scholarship went to Angela Robinson of Costa Mesa High.