L.A. Crowds Enthusiastic : Dukakis Skips Criticizing Rivals, Cites Own Success

Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, who has emerged as the marginal front-runner in the Democratic presidential race, acted the part during Los Angeles appearances Monday and Tuesday, passing up the chance to even mildly criticize his competitors for the nomination.

“I respect and admire all of the other Democratic candidates; we’ve all been involved in public life a long time,” Dukakis said, despite being the chief target during a debate among the Democratic aspirants Sunday in Iowa.

Sen. Albert Gore Jr. of Tennessee and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri challenged Dukakis’ claim to have presided over an economic renaissance in Massachusetts, suggesting that stepped-up defense spending may be the real reason.

Dukakis denied the suggestion Sunday and was undeterred by it in his speeches here.

Overflow Reception

“If there are three unique qualities I bring to this campaign, they are, first, a track record on economic issues . . . secondly, I have been a chief executive . . . and . . . thirdly, no Republican is going to hang a tax-and-spend label on Mike Dukakis,” he told an overflow reception Monday night at the Hispanic Presidential Forum in East Los Angeles.

“I’ve balanced nine budgets in a row; I’ve cut taxes five times in the last four years, and we still commit a lot of resources in Massachusetts to economic development, health care and education,” he said.

The response was enthusiastic--as it was Tuesday morning when he said essentially the same things to more than 400 Democratic activists in the San Fernando Valley, and later when he said them to more than 100 business and political leaders at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion downtown.

His front-runner status stems from the fact that he is the clear leader in recent polls in New Hampshire, his neighbor to the north and site of the first presidential primary. He is also near the top in polls in Iowa, where the first Democratic caucuses will be held. And he leads the Democratic field in fund raising, with more than $5 million in contributions.

State Booming

In addition, his state is booming--he lists the unemployment rate at 2.5%--and that gives him something he believes the Democrats have long needed at the national level--an economic success story.

Dukakis expects to add more than $100,000 to his campaign treasury in nine fund-raising events before he leaves Los Angeles tonight, after a dinner at actress Sally Field’s house. Among those expected to attend that event are Bruce Springsteen, Paul Newman, Barbra Streisand, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn.

Field is a Dukakis supporter, said campaign press secretary Patricia O’Brien, but many of the guests are getting their first look at the 53-year-old Massachusetts governor.

What they will see, based on Dukakis’ appearances Monday and Tuesday, is a bona fide liberal. Dukakis supports federal funding for abortion, believes that President Reagan’s “Star Wars” missile defense system and aid for the Nicaraguan contras are “illegal,” and sounded like an old-time Democrat when he told the Hispanic Forum:

“I am a full-employment Democrat. Make no mistake about it. Economists sit around and debate what we mean by full employment, but I’ll tell you what full employment is. It’s an economy in which every citizen who is able to work has a decent job at a decent wage.”

‘Many Cultures’

In his visit to Los Angeles, his second in recent months, Dukakis drew the warmest response when he told about his desire to be “a President who will celebrate this country of so many cultures.”

He recalled how his father and mother came to New England from Greece as penniless immigrants, became a doctor and schoolteacher and sent their son to Swarthmore College, Harvard Law School and the Statehouse of Massachusetts.

“And the other day,” Dukakis said, “my 84-year-old mother was out campaigning in Minnesota for her son to become President of the United States.”

Staff writer Alan Miller contributed to this story.