> From exegesis@vais.net Thu Sep 12 06:52:25 1996
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> Subject: An Exegesis Update From Washington
>
> Exegesis Update A Forum Encouraging Moral Excellence
> Thursday, September 12, 1996 Published Worldwide from Washington
> ____________________________________________________________
>
> The 12 Steps To A Dole Victory
>
> America finds itself approaching an unusual fork in the road. As
> Woody Allen once wrote: "One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness.
> The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose
> correctly." We must try to avoid a repetition by learning how we managed
> to get into this mess, but meanwhile, 50 days remain for Americans to be
> persuaded that Bob Dole would be an improvement on the vile Bill Clinton.
> This week, Mr. Dole came to Capitol Hill to give his former colleagues a
> pep talk. Alas, 60% of them failed to attend. He tried to illustrate his
> ability to recover from adversity by discussing (yet again) his recovery
> from war wounds. That was a sterling achievement, but it was half a
> century ago. He concluded: "The bottom line is: if you are optimistic, if
> you have the right message, if you believe in the American people, we are
> going to win on November 5." He is wrong on all points. Optimism without
> honesty is pointless. The Pope and Boris Yeltsin are in shining health,
> Ron Brown died in an accident, and all the Dole campaign needs is optimism.
> What the Dole campaign needs is honesty. The media have relegated the
> message to futility. It isn't the issues, stupid. On those, Republicans
> win hands down. It's character, stupid. And every time a surrogate
> asserts Mr. Dole's fine character, it backfires because most people know
> otherwise. It isn't a matter of believing in the American people, but of
> getting them to believe in him. His words about morality fail to resonate
> not because the message is wrong, but because the messenger is so flawed.
> A moral imperative is a tragic thing to waste.
>
> So can it be done? The candidate still shows few signs of wanting
> to win, the Clinton/Gore campaign's media lapdogs marginalize him as far as
> possible, and even Saddam Hussein has obliged. But these are all "froth
> and bubble". There is a way for Mr. Dole to win, and it is this. He must
> be honest with the American people, admit his past mistakes rather than
> conceal them, and promise to be an outstanding and inspiring leader. For
> the benefit of Mr. Dole and his campaign, we list a slightly adapted
> version of the Twelve Steps and urge him to follow them scrupulously and
> immediately.
>
> 1. Admit you are powerless over sin and your separation from God, that
> your life (and campaign) is unmanageable alone.
>
> 2. Believe that Jesus Christ can restore you to sanity (and win you
> the White House, if it is His will.)
>
> 3. Make a decision to turn your will and your life over to the care of
> God. (Would we want another President in care of the devil? Hardly! We've
> just tried that and look at the resultant debacle.)
>
> 4. Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of yourself. (That
> means complete honesty. Yes, all of it.)
>
> 5. Admit to God, to yourself and to Larry King, what you have done
> wrong. (Yes, $75 billion of the budget deficit.)
>
> 6. Be entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
>
> 7. Humbly ask Him to remove all your shortcomings.
>
> 8. Make a list of all those you have harmed and be willing to make
> amends. (Start with your primary rivals. There are too many taxpayers to
> list, but a promise to end push-polling and corporate subsidies to ADM and
> others will do fine.)
>
> 9. Make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to
> do so would cause them or others harm or injury.
>
> 10. Continue to look at yourself and, when you are wrong, promptly
> admit it. (And do it publicly. You have to build trust.)
>
> 11. Seek, through prayer and contemplation, to improve your conscious
> contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will, and the power to
> carry it out. (Sure you should pray to win. The Lord knows the truth
> about Bill Clinton.)
>
> 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, try
> to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all
> your affairs. (And be the inspiring leader America so desperately needs.)
>
> Perhaps Mr. Dole will now try what he should have tried in the
> first place: honesty and prayer. Let us pray God to grant him and his
> advisers the serenity to accept the things they cannot change, the courage
> to change the things they can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
> Steve Myers W Editor
> ________________________________________________________________________
>
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