Deukmejian Gives Bush’s Drive a Push

As he stumps across the nation in this presidential campaign, George Bush delights in bringing forth some local connection--a family root here, a branch there or maybe just a memory from along the way.

“It frustrates my opponents,” the vice president said with a smile in a recent interview.

He was born in Massachusetts, lived in Connecticut, calls Texas his home, has family ties to Ohio, Missouri, Colorado and Florida. He claims to have been conceived in Tennessee, has a home in Maine, did military service in states from New Hampshire to North Carolina. And, oh yes, he once rode the highways of Southern California selling oil-drilling equipment for a Bakersfield company.

“Seriously, I think people want somebody who knows about this country. They really do. People want someone who has been around,” Bush said.

A Sense of Place

Indeed, geography--a sense of place--has strongly shaped this presidential election. From the agricultural Midwest, from New England, from the South, from the Great Lakes “rust belt,” the voters of 1988 have spoken regional dialects.

And now, at the windup of the primary election season, the compass points West.

Bush arrived Wednesday for the first of three rapid-fire trips to California and other Western states between now and the June 7 primary. And for a man with a keen appreciation of locale, he is in a curious position. He has determined that California is where he must stop the Democrats, but at the same time he finds it a place where--despite his traveling salesman days 40 years ago--he is manifestly a stranger.

“We might be able to come up with a scenario where George Bush could win the presidency without California,” said Craig Fuller, his chief of staff. “But we do not believe the Democratic nominee can win the election without California.”

Democrats Agree

Democrats are increasingly coming to the same conclusion. As Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts emerges as the Democratic nominee-apparent, there is a growing consensus for a rethinking of the Democratic regional game plan. Instead of trying to win the conserv1635019126Midwest--and California.

Bush began his push in California Wednesday much as he has in other important states--teaming up with a popular chief executive. He held a joint press conference with Gov. George Deukmejian and named the governor as his general chairman for the state.

“Few presidential candidates in our history can offer the depth of experience, the proven ability that the vice president now brings to the people,” Deukmejian said.

Responding in kind, Bush said of this man who is often mentioned as a possible vice presidential pick: “The respect I have for this governor has no limitations.”

Teaming up with governors--taking advantage of their local knowledge and political organizations--proved extremely successful for Bush in watershed primary states such as New Hampshire and South Carolina. Now, the campaign hopes that help from Deukmejian may compensate for some of Bush’s unfamiliarity with California in the general election.

Dropped Out of ’80 Race

“The reality for Bush is that he dropped out of the presidential race in 1980 before California. He’s not had the experience of running here before, and as you know, running once in a place is a big advantage next time around,” said one senior California adviser.

Moreover, in the years since 1980, the California GOP has been wholly in the camp of favorite son Ronald Reagan, and no other national figure has even attempted to move in and build an organization. So difficult has it been to crack California, it is the only major state where Bush had to hire a stranger to run his operation day to day. She is Eileen Padberg, an Orange County-based consultant.

Besides California’s huge weight in electoral votes, the state may be destined to become a battleground over the legacy of the Reagan era--both the good and the bad.

“California represents a lot of what the record of this Administration stands for,” Fuller said in an interview. “It’s a state that’s seen a lot of economic growth, a state that leads in innovation and technology, a state that competes in the international marketplace.

“A lot of the strengthening of our defenses has depended on California’s work force.”

But Fuller added: “If we’re realistic, some of our toughest problems are represented here--drugs . . . the fact that everyone has not shared equally in the recovery . . . problems of hunger and the homeless.”