Much to the chagrin of conservatives, Gary Trudeau has been commenting on politics in his daily Doonesbury cartoon strip since the early '70s. Democrats have come in for some abuse - the escapades of Gary Hart and the misadventures of Jerry "Governor Moonbeam" Brown come immediately to mind - but the best zingers have been reserved for those who fly on the right wing. George Bush (and his evil twin Skippy), Ronald Reagan (and his electronic alter ego, Ron Headrest), Newt Gingrich, Ollie North, Dan Quayle, Richard Nixon ... they've all been unwilling targets of Trudeau's acerbic pen.

	With that sort of history, conservatives are unlikely to take the time to look at Trudeau's latest toonscape from Mindscape, "The Doonesbury Election Game Campaign 96." That's a damn shame, because this political simulation - believe me, it's thorough enough to warrant being called a sim - doesn't have an ideological agenda. If you're a political junkie, this is a title you'll want to try regardless of your party registration.

	The game puts you in the role of campaign manager of a presidential campaign. If you would like to stay current, you can pick Bill Clinton, Bob Dole, Ross Perot, or any other likely candidate on the 1996 political horizon. However, if you're more interested in replaying history, you can go back and hook up with George McGovern, Richard Nixon, the Kennedys, or pretty much anyone who's been at all involved in presidential politics since 1960. If there isn't a real politician out there that appeals to you, never fear. You can create your own candidate, and craft his or her stands on the issues to fit your own peculiar tastes.

	Once you pick a political bandwagon to hop on, you get to hire a four-person staff - a campaign strategist, communications director, spin doctor, and financial chairman. The talent pool for these vacancies consists of Doonesbury characters, and, like a real political campaign, you want to match the right people with the right jobs. For instance, Joanie Caucus as your campaign strategist is a good idea. Zonker as your campaign strategist (or pretty much any position you can think of, for that matter) is a bad idea.

	You can give your staff as much or as little authority as you wish. If you simply want to let the campaign unfold, you can sit and watch while they make all of the decisions. If you need more involvement, you can give your staff authority, but change their decisions when it suits you. If you're really into the political thing, you can make all of the decisions. One word of warning about this approach - a full 12-week campaign is likely to take a couple of weeks in real time to finish.

	Your campaign can run four, eight or 12 weeks. This is a turn-based game, with each turn consisting of one day on the campaign trail. You have access to polling results, demographic information, an advertising agency, and a travel itinerary. Between all this stuff, and the constant flow of memos from your staff, it will be incredibly easy to become overwhelmed by details.

	My biggest problem with this game is the fact that the computer AI is too nice. I managed a four-week and an eight-week campaign, and didn't see any sign of pressure from my opponents - no negative advertising, dirty tricks, or any of the other stunts that make politics pure fun. While the computer managers I took on were wienies, I took the low road and hired a plumber to leak false rumors about my esteemed Republican challenger, Bob Dole. This tactic paid off in spades as Dole wasted the better part of a week denying that he had a special "alien advisor." I was really hurt no one cared enough about Clinton to respond in kind. A human opponent would have been much more likely to lash back at me, and you can play against other people. Unfortunately, you can't play the game over a network.

	Most of this game's resources were devoted to the political engine, but the graphics look sharp. As a matter of fact, regular Doonesbury readers are going to feel as though they've been deposited in the middle of a Sunday comic strip. The interface could use some streamlining, particularly in the area where you get information from your staff, but the game is very easy to learn to play. There are even a few areas where you can learn something - a video library of significant political events, and a large bibliography of books on American politics. When you're in the "boiler room," which is where you run the campaign, be sure and click on the phone and make a couple of calls. The recorded messages you'll hear, from a wide variety of sources, are pretty funny.

	If you've stuck with me this far, this is a game that you must have. All of the elements of a real political campaign are in here, and the design lets you manage your candidate's quest for the White House in any fashion you please. Would you like to take the high road? Give it a whirl, and see if you can do worse than Michael Dukakis did in 1988. Did you think Lee Atwater was a wimp? Crank up the dirty tricks department, and hope to hell that Woodward and Bernstein don't come out of retirement. Like real life, all that matters in The Doonesbury Election Game is winning the election.