Bush Wants Campaign Focus on Ideology

Smarting over Democratic nominee Michael S. Dukakis’ assertion that the presidential race will be decided on “competence,” Vice President George Bush vowed Saturday that he will shift the focus to ideology and link Dukakis to unsuccessful Democrats of the past.

Bush, standing by the banks of the drought-lowered Mississippi River, said he disagreed with Dukakis’ nomination speech pronouncement that the election would turn not on “meaningless labels” but on job performance.

“I think I’m very competent, so we can go to the barricades on that one,” the unofficial Republican nominee told reporters, “but ideology matters. Do you want to set the country back to the policies that failed, the very liberal policies that have failed this country, or do you want to build on a successful record?”

Categorizes Dukakis

Bush has repeatedly tried to link Dukakis, who is being marketed as a new-style Democrat, to the traditional ranks of Democratic candidates.

On Saturday, Bush also outlined his hopes for next month’s Republican convention and said he soon will be seeking financial information from prospective running mates, the first step toward selecting a vice presidential nominee.

Slamming liberals in general and Dukakis in specific is one of the few approaches Bush has at this awkward stage of his lengthy campaign.

In recent weeks, while Democrats have drawn most of the attention with their convention, the Bush campaign has bumped up against the federal preconvention spending limit of $27 million, precluding any full-scale campaigning. The trip to Memphis, for example, was budgeted as a Republican Party expense.

Dominated by Reaction

With the Bush campaign’s attention focused on New Orleans, Bush’s recent travels have been dominated by reaction rather than action. Press conferences and photo opportunities--an inexpensive way to commandeer news space--have predominated.

Late Saturday in Tampa, Fla., Bush repeated his standard anti-drug speech to members of the Airborne Law Enforcement Assn., calling for stricter penalties and praising Reagan Administration policies.

Earlier, he posed for photographers on the Mississippi’s banks before a soaring red, white and blue pole with the numeral “20” attached to it 20 feet from the ground. The pole, placed on the riverside as a photo backdrop, showed the July level of the river during non-drought years.

But Bush did not issue any proposals for drought relief and barely mentioned the problem. “You may not want to dwell on my vast knowledge of the river,” he joked to reporters.

Potential Running Mates

Instead, in response to questions, Bush said he will soon start gathering information from potential running mates and added that the campaign would do public opinion polling on the vice-presidential choice “eventually.” He reiterated his intention to avoid creating a political cattle call for nominee hopefuls, saying he plans a “process that will not demean” those under consideration.

“I don’t need an interview process,” he added, with a jab at the tactics used by Dukakis. “I know the most likely candidates for vice president.”

An aide said that much of the next two weeks will be taken up by the vice presidential search.

As for the convention, Bush declared Saturday that he wants a “forward-looking” spectacle with more specifics, and more emphasis on foreign policy, than the Democratic gathering.

Would Unfreeze Funds

The convention will give Bush not only enviable television coverage but also allows the release of $46.1 million in general election funds frozen until his nomination is official.

Bush acknowledged Saturday that the lack of spendable funds has posed a problem. On June 1, before the California and New Jersey primaries, the campaign had less than $1.5 million left to spend. Campaign officials said they do not yet have an updated accounting.