Searching For Mr. Right And now for the swimsuit competition

By Margaret B. Carlson

Call it the Vice-Presidential Clearinghouse. Michael Dukakis is casting such a wide net in his search for a running mate that any day now Democratic members of Congress may get a letter from Ed McMahon announcing, "Congratulations. You may already be a vice-presidential nominee."

Despite the large number of contenders, the Governor is intent on keeping the process sober and thorough. There will be no Mondale-like press conferences at the end of the driveway; no skeletons left in the closet, as with McGovern's selection of Senator Thomas Eagleton; and no leaks. Aspirants have been asked to turn over everything but dental records to a claque of half a dozen aides who pore over the documents in isolation two floors above campaign headquarters in a red brick building on the fringe of Boston's Combat Zone. They are called the Manhattan Project.

Depending on who is counting, there are about eight contenders now, give or take a reluctant Senator or two. Although interviewed by Dukakis and high on his wish list, Senators Bill Bradley of New Jersey and Sam Nunn of Georgia have taken themselves out of the running. While Democrats seem to be content to take Nunn at his word, visions of a Bradley draft now excite Democrats almost as much as a Mario scenario did several months ago, though some think two Northeasterners on the ticket could be a fatal liability. Jesse Jackson is nominally on the list, largely because he has demanded to be there and has enough clout that he must be. Jackson is the only would-be to get star treatment. While the others interviewed were lucky to get a cup of coffee, Jackson was treated to the four basic food groups and an unassuming California Chablis. After the dinner-cum-interview, Jackson would only comment, "Balanced meal, well cooked."

The Boston Globe, which is giving the Veep race the kind of front-page, box- score coverage usually reserved for the Red Sox, has anointed various candidates as leader of the pack; the most recent was Albert Gore. By all appearances, the Tennessee Senator would seem to have disqualified himself by his attacks during the New York primary when he called Dukakis "very dangerous" and "irresponsible" on nuclear arms issues -- which could prove tougher to live down than Bush's description of Reagan's "voodoo economics." But Gore made nice enough in his postprimary endorsement to be invited to Brookline for an interview. He helps in the Border States and the South, possibly even in California, where his future-oriented interests (fiber optics and the greenhouse effect) might make up for the entertainment industry's unhappiness with his wife's much publicized campaign against rock lyrics.

The same day another former rival, Richard Gephardt, was auditioned. The Missouri Congressman, winner of the Iowa caucuses, has the most appeal to the blue-collar vote. Gephardt has corrected his early campaign deficiencies, developing a strong populist message, a compelling delivery, and eyebrows. But unless he is willing to put his $48,000 Hyundai on cinder blocks, it may be hard for him to reconcile his protectionist philosophy with Dukakis' belief in freer trade.

Ohio Senator John Glenn, the early favorite, has not held up well under scrutiny. With an uninspiring Senate record, $2.4 million in unpaid 1984 campaign debts and less charisma than Dukakis, his appeal to the risk-averse Dukakis may be simply that the bland ex-astronaut could not hurt him, and he could help him win Ohio. Indiana Congressman Lee Hamilton emerged as a foreign policy heavyweight and Mr. Integrity during the Iran-contra hearings. A lively presence Hamilton has never been, and he may not even be able to deliver his traditionally Republican home state.

Lloyd Bentsen, campaigning with Dukakis in Texas last week, may have peaked as well. An oil-state millionaire remembered for his aborted $10,000 breakfast club, the Senate Finance Committee chairman sets off special-interest alarms in some quarters. His claim to being the only Democrat to have beaten George Bush in Texas is a little long in the tooth (it happened in 1970), and his campaign style on display last week was stolid and uninspiring.

Senator Bob Graham is the only one on the list who has never had a real boomlet, perhaps because he tried too hard to create one by flogging polls showing he could carry Florida. His record of ordering more executions during his eight-year term than any other sitting Governor could offset Dukakis' soft-on-crime image. He is a master of the political gimmick -- he performed 100 different jobs in 100 days during his 1978 gubernatorial campaign -- with potent Washington connections (he is the brother-in-law of Washington Post Board Chairman Katharine Graham). But with less than two years in the Senate, he brings little Washington or foreign policy experience to the ticket.

Despite his protestations, it could be hard for Bradley, who has the inside- Washington foreign and economic policy experience and star quality that Dukakis lacks, to spurn the call of his party, should it come. Pulled off the bench reluctantly, he can play the exciting savior. The main problem the 6-ft. 5-in. former New York Knicks forward would face is finding a way not to make the 5-ft. 8-in. Dukakis look like the point guard he once was.

With reporting by Michael Duffy/Washington and Michael Riley with Dukakis