Firing Line here takes advantage of having been, a year earlier, the first venue for

each party's candidates to meet in a nationally televised forum. In this session, we see

three segments each from George Bush's and Michael Dukakis's performances, with

Messrs. Buckley and Kinsley commenting after each pair. MK: "My main reaction to

both [of the autobiographical segments], especially the Bush one, is: I remember seeing

them at the time and thinking: 'This is so excruciatingly contrived and phony I can't

stand it.' But my standards have really plummeted about artifice in politics since then."

WFB: "You now think it's sublime?" MK: "Well, I wouldn't go sublime, but it seems

tolerable, which it didn't at the time. I think my standards have sunk quite a bit because

of the way this campaign has gone."