Dukakis has denounced as "garbage" an Illinois mailing claiming that mass murderer John Wayne Gacy would be "eligible for weekend passes" if he were in a Massachusetts prison, while yesterday, [George Bush] campaign chairman James A. Baker III attacked as "outrageous" pro-Dukakis mailings describing the "emerging hard evidence of the infiltration of the Bush-Quayle campaign by pro-Nazi activists."

Officials of both campaigns in a number of the battleground states agree that the Bush drive got off the ground earlier with mailings emphasizing crime, Dukakis' veto of Pledge of Allegiance legislation, the death penalty and national defense. These mailings were aimed at white working- and middle-class independent voters and weak Democrats. In midsummer, many of these voters were leaning toward Dukakis, but they have been moving steadily toward Bush since then.

The GOP built on existing voter lists by conducting extensive voter identification through phone banks. Not only did many of these phone surveys seek to determine whether the voter supported Bush or Dukakis, they also included questions aimed at determining the voter's principal issue-concern: crime, the economy, taxes, gun control or abortion, for example. If a specific issue stood out, the voter would get a letter, often seemingly signed by Bush, that addressed the specific issue.