POLITICS 88 : Dukakis Is Laidback--in East L.A.

Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, a prim and proper man who wants to be President, loosened up in East Los Angeles on Thursday in his pursuit of the Democratic nomination, flopping down on a water bed, to the ecstatic delight of a horde of jostling, pushing, elbow-swinging photographers and television camera-crew members.

“See you later, guys, I’m not getting up,” Dukakis said. He was an incongruous sight on the blue mattress, as he lay, fully clad in his normal corporate campaign gear, a suit of gray pinstripes, red tie and wing-tip shoes. His arms at times were folded across his chest.

“I could take this for about an hour,” said the governor, who is noted for having once worn his wing tips and black socks--along with a sport shirt and Bermuda shorts--on a tour on a sunny day in Greece.

Joined by Firm’s Head

Angel M. (Angie) Echevarria, president of Somma Mattress Co., sprawled beside Dukakis on the water bed, probably daydreaming about the torrent of publicity that will descend on his company, which calls itself the nation’s biggest producer of flotation mattresses. (“We don’t care for the term water bed,” sniffed an executive.)

With $65 million a year in sales and a work force of 335, Somma is one of the nation’s fastest-growing Latino-owned firms.

City Councilman Richard Alatorre joined the Massachusetts governor on a tour of Somma, whose corporate slogan is: “Let’s all sleep in the same bed.”

Earlier, after an enthusiastic introduction and endorsement by Alatorre, Dukakis conducted a press conference alternately in English and Spanish at the El Paseo restaurant on Olvera Street.

Discussing the cease-fire in Nicaragua, Dukakis said House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.) deserves “particular credit for what happened in the past 24 hours.”

Wright’s “leadership and the work of members of the Congress in voting to cut off Contra aid really set the stage for yesterday’s cease-fire,” Dukakis said.

He said the country should now put its support behind the development of “human and democratic rights in Nicaragua. We owe a great debt of gratitude to both (Costa Rican President Oscar) Arias and Speaker Wright,” Dukakis said.

Dukakis repeated his support for a one-year extension of the deadline for amnesty applications under the immigration laws.

“I think it’s very important that we have an administration of the law that is sensitive, particularly to the issue of separation of immediate families,” he said. “There is no reason under the law why families should be separated. That’s something a new President and a new Administration can deal with without going back to the Congress.”

Dukakis said that if he becomes President, the Latino community “would participate fully” in his Administration.

He said there is widespread participation in his Administration in Massachusetts of minority group members. “We have a very strong affirmative action program at all levels,” Dukakis said.

It was a whirlwind Los Angeles trip for Dukakis. He arrived Wednesday night for a fund-raising event, met with reporters for a breakfast Thursday morning and then continued to the events at El Paseo and at the Somma factory. Later, he flew to San Francisco for another544240229from Reps. Robert T. Matsui (D-Sacramento) and Norman Y. Mineta (D-San Jose) and another fund-raiser. Thursday night he flew back to Detroit for more campaigning in preparation for the Michigan Democratic caucuses on Saturday.