Bush Challenges GOP Rivals to Back Arms Ban

Vice President George Bush challenged other Republican presidential candidates Tuesday to support the anticipated agreement with the Soviet Union banning intermediate-range missiles, a move apparently aimed mainly at his chief rival, Kansas Sen. Bob Dole.

“I want to press my opponents in this race to say whether they are for (the treaty) or against it,” Bush told a meeting of supporters here on the first day of campaigning after officially declaring his candidacy Monday in Houston.

Bush added that he intended to “challenge them (the other candidates) to say whether they are going to stand for verifiable arms reduction or whether they are going to be off trying to find some reason for not being for it.”

Actually, four of Bush’s five competitors, New York Rep. Jack Kemp, former television evangelist Pat Robertson, former Delaware Gov. Pierre S. (Pete) du Pont IV, and former Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig Jr. have already objected to the proposed treaty for various reasons.

Dole has withheld full approval because of concerns about whether verification provisions could be effective.

By issuing the challenge Bush seemed to be trying to gain a dual political advantage. He can enjoy the benefit of loyally backing President Reagan on a major policy initiative and at the same time share in what his aides believe to be the political popularity of the proposal.

“We think this is good policy because it’s good for relations with the Soviet Union, and we think it’s good politics too,” Bush communications director Peter Teeley said of the proposed agreement.

And by emphasizing his own backing for the treaty, Bush seemed to be trying to put Dole on the spot. “Dole has to make a decision,” one Bush adviser said. “He’s either going to be with the President or against the treaty.”

Later in the day, campaigning in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Bush was asked at an airport press conference whether it was fair to demand backing for the treaty before its final provisions had been formulated.

“I want to see maximum support for it (the treaty),” he said. “The President’s party should be for it solidly. This President isn’t going to enter into a dumb agreement. Everybody knows that.”

In a subsequent speech to about 1,500 high school students in Cedar Rapids, Bush repeated his political challenge on the treaty to the other candidates: “Tell us where you stand on the proposed agreement--are you for it, or against it?”