Deukmejian to Aid GOP Out of State

Taking another small step into the arena of national politics, Gov. George Deukmejian has agreed to be the featured speaker at Republican fund-raising events in five states this year beginning April 29 in Austin, Tex., it has been learned.

It will be the first time Deukmejian has ventured out of state to raise money for the GOP.

“He has been talked about as a vice presidential candidate so he’s a natural draw, even though you know and I know he isn’t going to be a vice presidential candidate,” said Steven M. Kinney, regional political director for the Republican National Committee, who is setting up the events.

Not Ready for No. 2

Deukmejian consistently has said he could not accept second spot on the GOP ticket because if he were to leave the governor’s office, he would have to turn it over to a Democrat. But some senior Deukmejian advisers realize that speculation about the vice presidency tends to enhance the governor’s image nationally, so they are helping to keep alive all the conjecture. “Never say never,” one told The Times.

Meanwhile, Deukmejian and his strategists have been wrestling with how best to salvage some political and public relations mileage from an inevitable, anti-climactic endorsement of Vice President George Bush, now that Bush’s nomination is virtually assured.

One GOP official, who asked not to be identified, said that the Legislature’s two party leaders--Sen. Ken Maddy of Fresno and Assemblyman Pat Nolan of Glendale--have been urging the governor just to stand up with them and announce their united support for the Vice President. But Deukmejian is insisting that Bush also be present.

Bush, whose pending victory in the June 7 California primary is a foregone conclusion, already has agreed to let Deukmejian chair the state’s 175-member delegation to the Republican National Convention.

Start in Texas

Deukmejian’s first out-of-state fund-raising event for the Republican National Committee will be a $1,000-per-person dinner at the Texas governor’s mansion. Between 150 and 200 donors are expected, Kinney said.

Deukmejian also will be the featured speaker at two fund raisers in Washington state in mid-July. The events--a breakfast in Seattle and probably a dinner in Spokane--will be keyed to the annual Western Governors Conference in Seattle July 10-12.

In Ohio, just before the GOP convention begins in New Orleans in mid-August, Deukmejian will headline a Cincinnati fund-raising luncheon and a Columbus evening reception. During the fall presidential race, the governor also will speak at a fund raiser in New York City and another somewhere in Florida, Kinney said.

Kinney said he selected Deukmejian--hardly a spellbinding orator--to star at the events because, among other things, Kinney formerly worked for the governor--he was Deukmejian’s top aide when Deukmejian was a state senator, and later was the finance director for his successful 1978 attorney general and 1982 gubernatorial campaigns. But also, Kinney emphasized, he found there to be “real enthusiasm” among party activists outside California about the prospect of hearing the governor of the most populous state.

Some of Deukmejian’s advisers have been pushing him for years, with only marginal success, to get himself more into national politics. Deukmejian basically has been a “stay-at-home” governor, in contrast to Ronald Reagan, who frequently traveled out of state to speak at party fund raisers.

Outlining a Scenario

Deukmejian strategists talk privately about a potential scenario that would position the 59-year-old governor to possibly run for President in four years. First, there could be no Republican incumbent, meaning Bush would have to lose in November. But Deukmejian also would have to become a lot better known throughout the country by speaking out more on national and foreign issues. He also probably would have to win a third term as governor in 1990, they say.

Kenneth L. Khachigian, political director of Deukmejian’s political action committee, Citizens for Common Sense, said of the pending fund raisers: “I’m not sure it can do that much for him. But, incrementally, it exposes him to party leaders in other states. He’s really not very well known outside of California, which makes him a good fund raiser because it gives him a little mystery.

“I would not say there’s an enormous amount of political benefit to be gained for us. But it’s a little hands-on look at the political world outside of California.”

Deukmejian press secretary Kevin Brett confirmed that the governor has agreed to speak at the fund raisers. He termed the invitations “evidence that the governor’s reputation and influence in Republican circles extends beyond California.”