Tactics ‘Worse Than Sleazy,’ Robertson Charges : Bush Michigan Victory Hotly Disputed

Vice President George Bush’s apparent victory in Michigan’s chaotic delegate selection process Thursday night was hotly disputed Friday by rival candidate Pat Robertson and officials of the Robertson campaign, who charged that Bush supporters were guilty of trying to steal the election.

They vowed to wage a credentials fight before a key Jan. 29 state convention in order to oust delegates committed to Bush--and to seat those delegates to the state convention who were elected by dozens of alternative conventions staged by a conservative coalition made up of supporters of Robertson and Rep. Jack Kemp of New York.

Campaigning in New Hampshire, Robertson said Bush’s tactics in Michigan were “worse than sleazy.” He alleged that the Bush camp had committed “unlawful acts” in the delegate selection process, and vowed legal and credentials fights to overturn Bush’s victory.

May Send Two Delegations

With such legal battles and credentials fights between the warring Bush and Robertson camps likely to drag on long after the state convention--where Michigan’s 77 delegates to the Republican National Convention are supposed to be chosen--some top political observers here predicted that Michigan will end up sending two separate delegations to New Orleans in August.

“I think there will be two delegations from Michigan,” said L. Brooks Patterson, co-chairman for Bush’s Michigan campaign, “unless we can reach an agreement with the Robertson people in the next two weeks on seating delegates. But we haven’t been able to agree with them on anything for two years in Michigan, so I don’t expect us to start now.”

That would force the national party to try to sort out the mess on the floor of the convention in August.

The battle here seems to ensure that the Michigan results will have little impact on the Feb. 8 Iowa caucuses and that events in Iowa should play a much larger role in winnowing the Republican field.

Bush Tops Predictions

In the midst of all of this confusion, however, Bush still seems to have scored a surprising and impressive victory, simply by doing far better than most of the pundits and political professionals expected, and by turning out large numbers of loyal activists in a state where many had questioned the depth of his support.

“We think what happened is that the Bush people were out in force with fire in their eyes,” said Rich Bond, Bush’s national political director, at a Detroit press conference Friday. “There have been a lot of questions about the intensity of the Bush support. We think we answered those questions last night.”

Bush himself was quick to declare victory Friday. Campaigning in New Hampshire, Bush said Thursday’s results represented “a clear victory. It’s very very good news.”

According to the latest figures available from the News Election Service, the only independent organization providing results of Thursday night’s county and district meetings, Bush held an overwhelming edge in delegates.

Election Service Tally

With 98% of the gatherings reporting, Bush had won 919 delegates, or 57% of the total, while Robertson had 360 delegates, or 22%, and Kemp had 274 delegates, or 17%. Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, Bush’s main rival nationally, was not a significant factor in the Michigan process.

The 1,805 delegates selected Thursday night are supposed to caucus at the state convention to choose 77 national delegates; thus the county and district conventions were seen as crucial in determining who would control Michigan’s national delegation.

But the Robertson camp dismissed the News Election Service figures because the service refused to count any delegates elected by the rival “rump” conventions. Robertson aides noted that a total of 2,700 delegates were elected Thursday night by both recognized and rump conventions, although there are only 1,805 delegate positions to be filled at the state convention.

Agreement on Figures

The Bush camp agreed that the News Election Service figures are misleading, because so many Robertson supporters elected at rump conventions will be challenging delegates elected at Bush-dominated conventions. According to the Bush campaign, Kemp and Robertson supporters walked out and staged their own unofficial meetings at 28 local conventions, involving 773 delegate positions. The Bush forces, by contrast, held only five rump meetings, involving 310 delegate slots.

Bond noted that the credentials of nearly 1,000 delegates on both sides are likely to be challenged prior to the state convention in Grand Rapids Jan. 29, providing the potential for one more political circus.

Coalition Seeks Meeting

David Walters, regional political director for Robertson in Michigan, said that the Kemp-Robertson coalition, which controls the state party’s central rules-making committee, is calling for a committee meeting to set up a credentials screening process before the state convention.

But because the committee is controlled by Robertson, the Bush forces say such a screening system would turn into a “kangaroo court” that would simply knock out all disputed Bush delegates and seat those supporting Robertson. Bond vowed to fight the authority of the state central committee to seat delegates in Grand Rapids.

Staff writer Cathleen Decker in New Hampshire contributed to this article.