THE RACE ISN'T OVER

Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole continues to press the $548 billion tax cut proposal that is the centerpiece of his campaign. It is a worthy proposal. The effectiveness of the advocacy the Dole-Kemp ticket brings to bear on behalf of it will likely determine the outcome of the presidential election.

This may come as news to the mandarins of the national press corps, so many of whom declared the race over and done with a couple of days after Labor Day. The truth is that most Americans are just now beginning to pay attention to the fall campaign. Moreover, a potentially decisive number of swing voters won't make up their minds until after the presidential debates and the World Series -- that is, during the last week before the Nov. 5 election.

There is recent historical precedent for dramatic, come-from-behind victories by candidates pledging to cut taxes. In the 1990 Michigan governor's race, longshot challenger John Engler was 14 points behind in a Detroit newspaper poll the Sunday before the election. Engler won. Longshot challenger Christie Todd Whitman trailed in the 1993 race for governor of Michigan by 21 points on the first of October. Candidate Whitman pledged to cut taxes and won a stunning upset victory over a Democratic campaign quarterbacked by Clinton campaign wizard James Carville. In an eerie foretaste of much of today's commentary, Carville had declared that contest "over" some five weeks before voters had their say.

The Dole-Kemp ticket must hold the trigger down on their tax cut proposal. Ardently pressing it will reassure voters that they mean it, and late deciders can and will break their way. National pundits to the contrary notwithstanding, this race is far from over.