Politics 88 : Robertson Also Backs Vice President : Reagan Endorses Bush at Party Fund-Raiser

President Reagan, in a surprisingly brief and unadorned announcement, endorsed Vice President George Bush for the presidency Wednesday night.

“I’m going to work as hard as I can to make Vice President George Bush the next President of the United States,” Reagan said.

The remarks in support of Bush were confined to a single paragraph at the end of a 2 1/2-page speech on economic and foreign policy issues delivered at 10 p.m. at a black-tie GOP fund-raising dinner.

Held in Abeyance

The endorsement, though expected, had been held in abeyance until Bush had locked up the Republican Party’s presidential nomination. It followed by several hours Pat Robertson’s announcement that he would officially abandon his campaign for the presidency next week and support Bush.

After meeting with the one remaining candidate in the Republican presidential race, Robertson told reporters at the White House: “We are going to be working harmoniously and in unity together and, of course, I am wholeheartedly endorsing the vice president for the presidency of the United States. The race is now over.”

In his remarks, the President mentioned Bush by name only three times--and once mispronounced it as “George Bosch.” Reagan recited a one-sentence resume of the jobs held by the vice president, whom he called “my candidate”: member of Congress, ambassador to China, ambassador to the United Nations, director of the Central Intelligence Agency and national chairman of the Republican Party.

The endorsement appeared curiously unenthusiastic, as Reagan offered Bush virtually no credit for the accomplishments of the Administration. But the President said: “I intend to campaign as hard as I can.”

Bush spoke briefly to the gathering, saying: “You changed the direction of our country Mr. President . . . now is the time to build and expand on our successes at home and abroad.”

Surely Relieved

As predictable as it was--the President endorsing his vice president of eight years--Bush was surely relieved to get the announcement behind him. In the last two weeks, a growing number of questions confronted the vice president on the campaign trail: Why the delay in the endorsement? Is there a problem between Bush and the President?

Bush found the inquiries bothersome and inexplicable. Still, he has said patiently: “There is no doubt about how the President feels.”

Whatever the case, the value of the Reagan endorsement was questioned by some analysts. Political scientist Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia, citing Bush’s difficulty in establishing a separate identity from that of Reagan, said the candidate risked being overshadowed by the President.

“I know Reagan can energize his base more than most politicians, but Bush is still almost completely undefined,” said Sabato, who has studied the impact of endorsements and the transferability of political popularity.

As for Robertson’s endorsement, Sabato called it “a blessing and a curse.”

May ‘Drive Away Voters’

“It helps to some degree with the fundamentalists, but I’m not certain that he doesn’t drive away more voters than he attracts, especially among young people. And I don’t know that he can particularly motivate his base of fundamentalist Christians” to vote for Bush, he added.

Some Bush campaign advisers were disappointed that the endorsement became such an exclusive late-night gala for party insiders, rather than a carefully orchestrated midday event geared toward showing the President embracing his vice president in plenty of time for broadcast on evening television news.

But vice-presidential Press Secretary Steve Hart said the complainers “are off the reservation. This was the decision of the two men.”

One Bush aide, who asked not to be identified, said the President and vice president agreed that the year’s biggest party for the party’s biggest donors was the perfect occasion. “You ought to be with your supporters when you pass the torch, so to speak,” this aide said.

About 4,000 people paid $1,500 each to attend the party, which cost close to $1 million to stage, according to one of its planners.

Defending Its Tone

No sooner had Reagan’s endorsement been made than the vice president’s men found themselves defending its tone and terseness. “It doesn’t get any better,” insisted Chief of Staff Craig Fuller. But Communications Director Peter Teeley said more somberly, “There’ll be other days.”

For the event, the mammoth District of Columbia Convention Center, in the middle of a run-down section of the city’s old downtown, was converted into a replica of official Washington, with four head tables erected in front of backdrops of Washington’s monuments.

And an entry area used at the start of the dinner for a cocktail party was decorated during the meal to resemble Bourbon Street in New Orleans--site of the party’s national convention in August--for after-dinner drinks.

As Robertson made his endorsement, standing on a driveway in front of the White House West Wing, Bush surveyed the scene--the vice president’s one remaining opponent surrounded by reporters and television camera crews, offering his unconditional support.

Bush, interrupting a five-minute photo session with members of the National Advisory Council to the Small Business Administration, stood on the second-floor balcony of his office across a private street from the White House and raised his arms in a victory salute over his head.

Robertson said he was encouraging his supporters “to continue the struggle that they have been undertaking for conservative values in America,” adding: “I feel that virtually to a man or a woman, they will be unified as Republicans this fall to support the Republican ticket.”

Not After Vice Presidency

He said that he was not seeking the vice-presidential nomination and that he would not consider running in 1992 if Bush wins in November. But he acknowledged that, if Bush loses, he might resume his own candidacy in the next presidential election.

Without disclosing specific elements that he wants to see in the Republican Party platform on which Bush will run, Robertson said “we definitely had a meeting of the minds in relation” to that agenda.

“They discussed the platform, and they agreed with Bush’s approach to build on the platform of 1984,” one Bush assistant said. Sources said Robertson is seeking a platform that would include references to education in the United States and to the AIDS epidemic.

Bush, who seems disinterested in holding a grudge, met cheerfully for 30 minutes with Robertson, an aide to the vice president said. Neither brought up the differences that had grown deep and personal during their months of rivalry.

“A great meeting, great meeting,” one Bush aide said. “Very upbeat and forward-looking,” said another, adding: “Bush said he would welcome any suggestions and spoke of his desire for party unity--the politics of inclusion.”

According to Bush’s assistants, Robertson “said he was going to work with us. He said he was going to encourage his people to keep working on a conservative agenda, but to help Bush.”