Goodby to Sidelines, Hello to Front Line

DALLAS — Many months ago, when I first started writing this column, I, like many political analysts, would have predicted a rather dull political season, with the end result being George Bush reelected by a narrow margin. All that has changed.

Practically everything I have learned in the 30 years I have been around American politics is irrelevant to this election year. I think Americans are going to have one of the most fascinating elections they have ever experienced. Americans of all political stripes will have options and choices; citizen participation may be at an all-time high.

In case you missed the news, I’ve joined the Perot campaign. That means you won’t be seeing my column, in these pages, although my good friend Bob Beckel will continue to pair off with a Republican analyst at each twist and turn in the campaign trail. Beckel knows more about Democratic politics than anyone in this country and has my utmost respect.

In saying goodby, for now, I’d like to thank the readers. As for Beckel, I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon on a panel somewhere or another doing a post-mortem on campaign ’92.

I promise all of you that this will be one for the history books. And I hope The Times will have me back for a column after Nov. 3, analyzing how Ross Perot won!