POLITICS 88 : Robertson, at Spending Limit, All but Gives Up : ‘Not Over Yet,’ He Tells Supporters but Counts on Dole to Stop Bush

Gone are the bravado and the daring predictions of victories. Gone are the posh airplane and the multimillion-dollar budget. All but gone is the hope of winning--but only for this time around.

It was a different, yes, even subdued Pat Robertson who hit the ground here Thursday for the next GOP presidential primary.

“What we’ve got is a stripped-down operation that’s living off the land,” he said in an interview, with a laugh on himself.

Although he was crushed in all but one of the Super Tuesday states, Robertson insisted to supporters here that it “is not over yet.” But he acknowledged that, if Vice President George Bush was to be stopped from getting the nomination, it would have to be in next Tuesday’s Illinois primary, and not by Pat Robertson.

Wishes Dole Well

“If there is any stopping that shall be done here in Illinois, Bob Dole is the one to do it. . . . I wish him well. . . . I’m all for him.”

Even that hope seemed to be fading Thursday, as the Dole campaign withdrew the commercials it had scheduled in Illinois and reports spread that Dole and his staff were debating whether to stay in the race.

At Robertson’s Virginia headquarters, meanwhile, a round of firings reduced the campaign staff, as the candidate put it, “significantly.” His commercial-size jetliner was replaced by a plane with room only for bodyguards and a single aide. After spending millions early in hopes of making his mark, Robertson acknowledged that he is “up against” the federal spending limit and cannot purchase any more television advertising.

But the former religious broadcaster, who seems to stir up lively political emotions wherever he goes, is not without a strategy for pursuing his dream of the presidency. On Thursday, he was talking about his plans for the summer, for the fall--and for 1992.

Looks to California

For this summer, Robertson said, he still has one prospect for a big electoral surprise--California. The last-in-the-nation primary will be held there on June 7. By then, it is presumed that nobody in the race will have money for television advertising. The winner gets all of the delegates, second place gets none.

“We’re going to mobilize more volunteers than probably they’ve ever seen in any campaign in the history of the state of California. And I’m going to get tens and tens of thousands of people, making phone calls from their homes and going door to door,” Robertson said.

“It will be one of the most massive grass-roots mobilizations ever. I’m starting now for California.”

After that, Robertson said he hoped to serve as “a rallying point for conservatives” at the GOP nominating convention in New Orleans in August.

One thing Robertson has proved is his skill at taking control of the apparatus of the Republican Party at local and state levels. He predicted that, before the 1988 elections are over, he will wield power in more than one-third of the nation’s state parties.

Voice on Other Matters

In some cases, this means states will send delegates to the national convention pledged to vote for Bush on the first ballot but free to support Robertson on other matters, such as the platform or even the choice of a running mate.

“I should have people favorable to my candidacy in as many as 20 of the state parties. So this will give a substantial base for putting forth conservative principles at the convention. . . . That means national committeemen and -women, some of the people who are making rules and writing the platform, all that stuff.”

At a news conference, Robertson expressed only pride in his performance so far in the GOP race, and he continued to talk more or less openly about the presidential race of 1992.

“Given the fact that this was the first election I’ve ever run in my life--I’m considered a political novice--I think it’s very good. I think it lays the foundation for not only a good showing at the convention in 1988 but also something down the road.”