Stump of Approval in Laguna : Dukakis Greeted by Crowd of 1,200, Perfect Weather

Despite the short notice and the out-of-the-way location, a crowd of more than 1,200 people showed up in Laguna Beach on Friday to greet Democratic presidential candidate Michael S. Dukakis.

“You have no idea what a morning like this in Laguna Beach, on this incredible coast, does to the spirit of a candidate,” Dukakis said as he took the lectern on a cliff in Heisler Park above the shining Pacific Ocean. Referring to this week’s flap about the public release of his medical records, Dukakis continued, “I came here feeling very healthy, and I feel even healthier.”

Dukakis, in shirt-sleeves, appeared relaxed as he worked the crowd, stopping on his way to the podium to talk with a couple of surfers.

On the third Orange County trip of his presidential campaign, Dukakis chose Laguna Beach to reiterate his stand against offshore oil-drilling and to once again emphasize his strategy to win as many votes as possible in a county where Republicans dominate.

Asked at a press conference later Friday why he bothered campaigning in such an overwhelmingly GOP area, the candidate sounded a little surprised himself when he said, “Our polls look pretty good in Orange County.”

The he added: “We have a terrific opportunity to turn things around here.”

Although it would be surprising if the Republican presidential candidate did not take the county in November, Dukakis would like to keep presumed GOP nominee George Bush from winning by too large a margin. Local Democrats, exuberant after July’s national convention, have gone so far as to express the hope that Dukakis might have in Orange County something not seen for many a presidential election: coattails that other Democrats might ride to victory.

On Friday, coattails were undoubtedly on the mind of Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy, who is challenging Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) in his bid for reelection, as he joined Dukakis at Heisler Park. Also on hand was Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.).

At one point, the three men made an offbeat picture as they smilingly held up--over their virtually identical blue-shirt-and-red-tie outfits--bright yellow “I THE CALIFORNIA COAST” T-shirts brought to the event by McCarthy. “You can’t come to California without taking home T-shirts,” McCarthy joked.

Later, when a local congressional candidate offered Dukakis another T-shirt with his own name on it, Dukakis said with tongue in cheek, “I’m going to walk away from here with a wardrobe!”

That led Michael Evans of Laguna Beach, who was leading up to a serious question about Soviet-American relations, to say, “I know where you can get a wardrobe for Kitty,” Dukakis’ wife. It is a running joke in the campaign that the frugal Dukakis buys bargain-basement suits while his wife shops for high fashion. Dukakis warned Evans in mock seriousness: “Don’t tell Kitty.”

Dukakis talked about the environment, for a time, then took questions from the members of the crowd. Among them was 12-year-old Hedy Henderson of Dana Point, who clasped a blue autograph book as she stepped up to a microphone placed in the aisle and asked Dukakis whether he was opposed to nuclear energy.

“Do you want me to sign that?” Dukakis said, eyeing the autograph book. He explained that he did not think nuclear plants were cost effective and that he worried about where to put their waste. Then he called Hedy up to claim her autograph.

Another of the questioners described himself as a lifelong Republican.

“I won’t hold that against you,” Dukakis said. “Some of my best friends are Republicans. We’re going to get some Republican votes this fall--how’s that?”

The crowd applauded.

The campaign stop was marred by one mishap: a chain-reaction accident in the motorcade of 15 or 20 staff and press cars as it made its way through heavy traffic from the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City, where Dukakis stayed overnight, to Laguna Beach. Although no one was injured, a member of the five-person ABC-TV crew that was in one of the four cars involved said the car was “totally smooshed.” They missed the Heisler Park event waiting for a tow truck on the side of the freeway.

“And all our friends go roaring past us to the event. You know, news first,” cracked Patrick (Dean) Sullivan of ABC, who was in the disabled car. But he and the crew finally arrived in Laguna Beach and decided it would be a good place to recuperate from the accident. “Don’t you think the sand here in Laguna Beach would be good for whiplash?” Sullivan asked.

Local Democratic leaders, who learned only Wednesday that Dukakis planned to campaign in Orange County on Friday, said they formed phone banks to contact thousands of Democrats to come to the event. They were concerned that, because of the short notice, the workday hour and the difficulty of getting to Laguna Beach, the turnout might prove an embarrassment to Dukakis.

But they need not have worried. As Laguna Beach Councilman Bob Gentry said, “I haven’t seen a crowd this big in Laguna Beach since the last time we talked about dogs on the Main Beach.”

The weather also may have helped. Instead of the clouds that had covered the beach on mornings during the week, there was a only a slight mist that softened the edges of the cliffs visible up the coast.

“This is the first time the sun’s been out that early in days,” Orange County Democratic activist Howard Adler said. “It couldn’t have gone better.”