Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 28, 1990 TAG: 9006280184
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Taxes and the hot air of broken political promises provided a combustible mix for people in the street, radio talk show callers and headline writers Wednesday.
"I think all politicians have some little white lies in them," said Peter Sienkowski, 52, a Dallas Republican.
WABC Talk Radio in New York City played Bush's oft-repeated campaign pledge with his Tuesday statement that reducing the federal deficit would need "tax revenue increases." The about-face prompted a torrent of calls.
"How many times have we heard that phrase, `read my lips?' " wondered Paulette Pettit of WABC. "There wasn't passion or anger among callers. It was more a feeling of, `I can't believe I fell for that line.' "
Ted O'Brien of WRKO in Boston, home of defeated Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, said the phones sizzled.
"It was THE topic. There is a sense of disappointment among his supporters. Those on the other side had a sense of let him twist slowly in the wind. And there were those who said the Duke would have done it 14 months earlier."
Headline writers had a field day.
"Read My Lips . . . I Lied!" said the New York Post on its front page. Inside was this line: "Read His Forked Tongue."
The New York Daily News offered: "Bush's Lips Say The `T' Word."
Bush's new pitch flopped in Peoria, where the president was pilloried.
"I think it stinks," said Marsha Barnes of that Illinois community. "He's just like all the rest. They promise you something, then they get in office and break their word. I won't believe him in the future."
Robert Miller, a Peoria Republican who voted for Bush, said the president's change of heart was predictable if not well-received. "Don't they all break their promises once they get in office?" he said.
by CNB