Top Officials Attend Bush Pep Rally : Candidate, Reagan Boast About Tenure, Take Jabs at Dukakis

Vice President George Bush, six days away from taking hold of the Republican Party as its presidential nominee, addressed the Reagan Administration’s field commanders Friday in an executive branch pep rally that was dominated by Bush’s chief campaign surrogate--President Ronald Reagan himself.

Gathered in the Old Executive Office Building here with Cabinet officers and nearly 200 of the Administration’s highest-ranking appointees, the nation’s top two Republicans boasted about their tenure and took turns jabbing at Democratic nominee Michael S. Dukakis.

“I don’t think the American people want to gamble their future on a blind date,” said Reagan, who called Bush a “guarantee” of continued peace and prosperity.

Bush chided Dukakis for trying earlier this week to claim that his views on foreign affairs were closer to Reagan’s than Bush’s were. And he urged the Reagan appointees to stand with him until November.

‘Help Ignite the Souls’

“I need you to help mobilize our troops out across this country,” Bush said. “I need you to help ignite the souls and stir the hearts of the American people.”

But, if the Republican love-fest was meant to rally the troops, jell party unity and show off Reagan’s backing of his vice president, it demonstrated also the immense shadow Reagan still casts over Bush and his candidacy.

Bush received a warm ovation from the crowd at his entrance and exit and was interrupted by polite applause several times. But Reagan, still the political idol of the crowd, prompted raucous laughter with his jokes at Dukakis’ expense and was loudly applauded more than a dozen times.

The televised event was the only semipublic Friday appearance by Bush, who spent the day giving media interviews, consulting with senior staff members about his vice presidential selection and reviewing a draft of his nomination address.

To Work on Speech

This weekend is expected to be dominated by the latter two activities. Bush, with principal speech writer Peggy Noonan, is expected to have his address virtually completed by Monday. An aide said he will have narrowed his vice presidential selection by then and may come to a decision by Tuesday, when he departs for the convention in New Orleans.

Bush’s appearances in recent days have been rife with displays of his connection to Reagan. On Thursday, Reagan, Bush and their wives ate lunch together in the Oval Office and later posed for pictures. Also, they firmed up plans to meet in New Orleans Tuesday, as Reagan departs for his California ranch and Bush arrives to claim his nomination.

At the pep rally Friday, Reagan warmly praised Bush, calling him the “standard-bearer” of the party. The President urged Administration officials to lay out the Reagan record to voters and to emphasize the continuity represented by Bush.

“The reason our record of success is important is because that’s the proof that our philosophy works, that George Bush’s policies work,” Reagan said. “The other folks talk; George Bush will deliver.”

Welcomes Appointees

Reagan opened his remarks by welcoming the appointees, some of whom work in other buildings around Washington, to the “White House complex.” The Old Executive Office Building is next door to the White House in the same security compound.

“The White House complex,” Reagan repeated jokingly. “That’s what our opponents have after eight years of being out of power.”

Bush, for his part, reiterated his campaign promises to cut the capital gains tax, freeze federal spending and push for a federal line-item veto. He referred also to his plans for increased spending for education, child care and the environment--which have not been emphasized under Reagan--and in a subtle reference acknowledged that the “Reagan recovery” has been limited.

“We must remind them (voters) that peace and economic growth are not blanketing our land by accident. They’ve not fallen out of the sky,” Bush said. “But, rather, they’ve grown from carefully cultivated seeds planted by the men and women in this room.

“And now the task is to plant where no flowers have bloomed before, to grow to heights previously unimagined.

‘Messengers of Hope’

“You are messengers of hope for this new American revolution,” added Bush, who said the Administration’s successes were not yet “in focus” for most voters.

Before the Reagan meeting, the vice president met for two hours with his senior campaign aides, soliciting their advice about his running mate in the face of internal campaign polls that showed no overwhelmingly preferable candidate.

Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, the Senate minority leader and Bush’s fiercest rival for the Republican nomination, helped the ticket more than other candidates in trial runs, aides said, but he did not stand out markedly from the rest.